Dataset statistics
| Number of variables | 14 |
|---|---|
| Number of observations | 219398 |
| Missing cells | 1030967 |
| Missing cells (%) | 33.6% |
| Duplicate rows | 3672 |
| Duplicate rows (%) | 1.7% |
| Total size in memory | 803.5 MiB |
| Average record size in memory | 3.8 KiB |
Variable types
| Unsupported | 1 |
|---|---|
| Text | 10 |
| URL | 1 |
| DateTime | 1 |
| Categorical | 1 |
| Dataset has 3672 (1.7%) duplicate rows | Duplicates |
source_id has 187075 (85.3%) missing values | Missing |
source_name has 13232 (6.0%) missing values | Missing |
author has 37970 (17.3%) missing values | Missing |
title has 13343 (6.1%) missing values | Missing |
description has 13952 (6.4%) missing values | Missing |
url has 25862 (11.8%) missing values | Missing |
url_to_image has 38842 (17.7%) missing values | Missing |
published_at has 25862 (11.8%) missing values | Missing |
content has 25964 (11.8%) missing values | Missing |
category has 25956 (11.8%) missing values | Missing |
full_content has 207575 (94.6%) missing values | Missing |
article has 207667 (94.7%) missing values | Missing |
title_sentiment has 207667 (94.7%) missing values | Missing |
article_id is an unsupported type, check if it needs cleaning or further analysis | Unsupported |
Reproduction
| Analysis started | 2024-04-15 23:13:15.785190 |
|---|---|
| Analysis finished | 2024-04-15 23:15:26.944712 |
| Duration | 2 minutes and 11.16 seconds |
| Software version | ydata-profiling vv4.7.0 |
| Download configuration | config.json |
article_id
Unsupported
REJECTED UNSUPPORTED
| Missing | 0 |
|---|---|
| Missing (%) | 0.0% |
| Memory size | 14.1 MiB |
source_id
Text
MISSING
| Distinct | 132 |
|---|---|
| Distinct (%) | 0.4% |
| Missing | 187075 |
| Missing (%) | 85.3% |
| Memory size | 9.5 MiB |
Length
| Max length | 36 |
|---|---|
| Median length | 27 |
| Mean length | 11.267983 |
| Min length | 2 |
Characters and Unicode
| Total characters | 364215 |
|---|---|
| Distinct characters | 58 |
| Distinct categories | 1 ? |
| Distinct scripts | 1 ? |
| Distinct blocks | 1 ? |
The Unicode Standard assigns character properties to each code point, which can be used to analyse textual variables.
Unique
| Unique | 38 ? |
|---|---|
| Unique (%) | 0.1% |
Sample
| 1st row | engadget |
|---|---|
| 2nd row | the-jerusalem-post |
| 3rd row | bbc-news |
| 4th row | the-washington-post |
| 5th row | the-times-of-india |
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| the-times-of-india | 6074 | |
| bbc-news | 3424 | 10.6% |
| business-insider | 2736 | 8.5% |
| abc-news | 1964 | 6.1% |
| al-jazeera-english | 1863 | 5.8% |
| rt | 1399 | 4.3% |
| newsweek | 929 | 2.9% |
| cbs-news | 733 | 2.3% |
| cbc-news | 706 | 2.2% |
| time | 664 | 2.1% |
| Other values (131) | 11847 |
Most occurring characters
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| e | 48137 | |
| - | 40767 | |
| i | 35622 | 9.8% |
| s | 34978 | 9.6% |
| n | 29631 | 8.1% |
| t | 21989 | 6.0% |
| a | 21224 | 5.8% |
| b | 15913 | 4.4% |
| r | 12903 | 3.5% |
| c | 12312 | 3.4% |
| Other values (48) | 90739 |
Most occurring categories
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 364215 |
Most frequent character per category
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| e | 48137 | |
| - | 40767 | |
| i | 35622 | 9.8% |
| s | 34978 | 9.6% |
| n | 29631 | 8.1% |
| t | 21989 | 6.0% |
| a | 21224 | 5.8% |
| b | 15913 | 4.4% |
| r | 12903 | 3.5% |
| c | 12312 | 3.4% |
| Other values (48) | 90739 |
Most occurring scripts
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 364215 |
Most frequent character per script
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| e | 48137 | |
| - | 40767 | |
| i | 35622 | 9.8% |
| s | 34978 | 9.6% |
| n | 29631 | 8.1% |
| t | 21989 | 6.0% |
| a | 21224 | 5.8% |
| b | 15913 | 4.4% |
| r | 12903 | 3.5% |
| c | 12312 | 3.4% |
| Other values (48) | 90739 |
Most occurring blocks
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 364215 |
Most frequent character per block
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| e | 48137 | |
| - | 40767 | |
| i | 35622 | 9.8% |
| s | 34978 | 9.6% |
| n | 29631 | 8.1% |
| t | 21989 | 6.0% |
| a | 21224 | 5.8% |
| b | 15913 | 4.4% |
| r | 12903 | 3.5% |
| c | 12312 | 3.4% |
| Other values (48) | 90739 |
source_name
Text
MISSING
| Distinct | 3718 |
|---|---|
| Distinct (%) | 1.8% |
| Missing | 13232 |
| Missing (%) | 6.0% |
| Memory size | 15.8 MiB |
Length
| Max length | 63 |
|---|---|
| Median length | 40 |
| Mean length | 12.406255 |
| Min length | 2 |
Characters and Unicode
| Total characters | 2557748 |
|---|---|
| Distinct characters | 96 |
| Distinct categories | 1 ? |
| Distinct scripts | 1 ? |
| Distinct blocks | 1 ? |
The Unicode Standard assigns character properties to each code point, which can be used to analyse textual variables.
Unique
| Unique | 960 ? |
|---|---|
| Unique (%) | 0.5% |
Sample
| 1st row | Eater |
|---|---|
| 2nd row | Engadget |
| 3rd row | Psychology Today |
| 4th row | Bringatrailer.com |
| 5th row | The Punch |
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| news | 25609 | 7.8% |
| the | 15450 | 4.7% |
| daily | 14111 | 4.3% |
| punknews.org | 12639 | 3.9% |
| etf | 12137 | 3.7% |
| times | 8723 | 2.7% |
| biztoc.com | 7414 | 2.3% |
| of | 6481 | 2.0% |
| india | 6157 | 1.9% |
| globenewswire | 5901 | 1.8% |
| Other values (3928) | 212221 |
Most occurring characters
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| e | 256921 | 10.0% |
| o | 185236 | 7.2% |
| s | 147053 | 5.7% |
| i | 139738 | 5.5% |
| n | 134674 | 5.3% |
| r | 131630 | 5.1% |
| 120803 | 4.7% | |
| a | 117337 | 4.6% |
| c | 95128 | 3.7% |
| . | 92919 | 3.6% |
| Other values (86) | 1136309 |
Most occurring categories
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 2557748 |
Most frequent character per category
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| e | 256921 | 10.0% |
| o | 185236 | 7.2% |
| s | 147053 | 5.7% |
| i | 139738 | 5.5% |
| n | 134674 | 5.3% |
| r | 131630 | 5.1% |
| 120803 | 4.7% | |
| a | 117337 | 4.6% |
| c | 95128 | 3.7% |
| . | 92919 | 3.6% |
| Other values (86) | 1136309 |
Most occurring scripts
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 2557748 |
Most frequent character per script
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| e | 256921 | 10.0% |
| o | 185236 | 7.2% |
| s | 147053 | 5.7% |
| i | 139738 | 5.5% |
| n | 134674 | 5.3% |
| r | 131630 | 5.1% |
| 120803 | 4.7% | |
| a | 117337 | 4.6% |
| c | 95128 | 3.7% |
| . | 92919 | 3.6% |
| Other values (86) | 1136309 |
Most occurring blocks
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 2557748 |
Most frequent character per block
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| e | 256921 | 10.0% |
| o | 185236 | 7.2% |
| s | 147053 | 5.7% |
| i | 139738 | 5.5% |
| n | 134674 | 5.3% |
| r | 131630 | 5.1% |
| 120803 | 4.7% | |
| a | 117337 | 4.6% |
| c | 95128 | 3.7% |
| . | 92919 | 3.6% |
| Other values (86) | 1136309 |
author
Text
MISSING
| Distinct | 33586 |
|---|---|
| Distinct (%) | 18.5% |
| Missing | 37970 |
| Missing (%) | 17.3% |
| Memory size | 16.7 MiB |
Length
| Max length | 805 |
|---|---|
| Median length | 509 |
| Mean length | 20.108803 |
| Min length | 1 |
Characters and Unicode
| Total characters | 3648300 |
|---|---|
| Distinct characters | 1306 |
| Distinct categories | 1 ? |
| Distinct scripts | 1 ? |
| Distinct blocks | 1 ? |
The Unicode Standard assigns character properties to each code point, which can be used to analyse textual variables.
Unique
| Unique | 16935 ? |
|---|---|
| Unique (%) | 9.3% |
Sample
| 1st row | Harry Cheadle |
|---|---|
| 2nd row | Mariella Moon |
| 3rd row | John Nosta |
| 4th row | bringatrailer |
| 5th row | Victor Ayeni |
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| news | 14726 | 3.4% |
| emmoore@nospam.punknews.org | 12637 | 2.9% |
| emmoore | 12637 | 2.9% |
| marketbeat | 12136 | 2.8% |
| contributor | 7865 | 1.8% |
| john | 3962 | 0.9% |
| forbes | 3543 | 0.8% |
| staff | 3237 | 0.8% |
| pike | 2963 | 0.7% |
| the | 2959 | 0.7% |
| Other values (37414) | 352375 |
Most occurring characters
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| e | 348760 | 9.6% |
| o | 254554 | 7.0% |
| 253449 | 6.9% | |
| a | 247128 | 6.8% |
| r | 221817 | 6.1% |
| n | 204557 | 5.6% |
| s | 179440 | 4.9% |
| i | 161817 | 4.4% |
| t | 159994 | 4.4% |
| m | 122979 | 3.4% |
| Other values (1296) | 1493805 |
Most occurring categories
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 3648300 |
Most frequent character per category
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| e | 348760 | 9.6% |
| o | 254554 | 7.0% |
| 253449 | 6.9% | |
| a | 247128 | 6.8% |
| r | 221817 | 6.1% |
| n | 204557 | 5.6% |
| s | 179440 | 4.9% |
| i | 161817 | 4.4% |
| t | 159994 | 4.4% |
| m | 122979 | 3.4% |
| Other values (1296) | 1493805 |
Most occurring scripts
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 3648300 |
Most frequent character per script
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| e | 348760 | 9.6% |
| o | 254554 | 7.0% |
| 253449 | 6.9% | |
| a | 247128 | 6.8% |
| r | 221817 | 6.1% |
| n | 204557 | 5.6% |
| s | 179440 | 4.9% |
| i | 161817 | 4.4% |
| t | 159994 | 4.4% |
| m | 122979 | 3.4% |
| Other values (1296) | 1493805 |
Most occurring blocks
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 3648300 |
Most frequent character per block
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| e | 348760 | 9.6% |
| o | 254554 | 7.0% |
| 253449 | 6.9% | |
| a | 247128 | 6.8% |
| r | 221817 | 6.1% |
| n | 204557 | 5.6% |
| s | 179440 | 4.9% |
| i | 161817 | 4.4% |
| t | 159994 | 4.4% |
| m | 122979 | 3.4% |
| Other values (1296) | 1493805 |
title
Text
MISSING
| Distinct | 144565 |
|---|---|
| Distinct (%) | 70.2% |
| Missing | 13343 |
| Missing (%) | 6.1% |
| Memory size | 37.2 MiB |
Length
| Max length | 675 |
|---|---|
| Median length | 508 |
| Mean length | 69.254393 |
| Min length | 4 |
Characters and Unicode
| Total characters | 14270214 |
|---|---|
| Distinct characters | 4475 |
| Distinct categories | 1 ? |
| Distinct scripts | 1 ? |
| Distinct blocks | 1 ? |
The Unicode Standard assigns character properties to each code point, which can be used to analyse textual variables.
Unique
| Unique | 112971 ? |
|---|---|
| Unique (%) | 54.8% |
Sample
| 1st row | Seattle Just Got a Nonalcoholic Bottle Shop |
|---|---|
| 2nd row | The FCC will crack down on ISPs to improve connectivity in poorer areas |
| 3rd row | The Logos of Our Time |
| 4th row | 507-Mile 2016 Porsche 911 R |
| 5th row | Lagos schools where alcohol, gambling thrive in broad daylight |
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| to | 44251 | 2.0% |
| the | 38833 | 1.7% |
| in | 36103 | 1.6% |
| for | 34573 | 1.5% |
| of | 30725 | 1.4% |
| a | 22893 | 1.0% |
| and | 22562 | 1.0% |
| 21251 | 0.9% | |
| on | 15131 | 0.7% |
| video | 14164 | 0.6% |
| Other values (183158) | 1962822 |
Most occurring characters
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 2033291 | 14.2% | |
| e | 1236010 | 8.7% |
| a | 911009 | 6.4% |
| i | 786608 | 5.5% |
| o | 757329 | 5.3% |
| n | 745582 | 5.2% |
| r | 730095 | 5.1% |
| s | 719211 | 5.0% |
| t | 698005 | 4.9% |
| l | 462072 | 3.2% |
| Other values (4465) | 5191002 |
Most occurring categories
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 14270214 |
Most frequent character per category
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 2033291 | 14.2% | |
| e | 1236010 | 8.7% |
| a | 911009 | 6.4% |
| i | 786608 | 5.5% |
| o | 757329 | 5.3% |
| n | 745582 | 5.2% |
| r | 730095 | 5.1% |
| s | 719211 | 5.0% |
| t | 698005 | 4.9% |
| l | 462072 | 3.2% |
| Other values (4465) | 5191002 |
Most occurring scripts
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 14270214 |
Most frequent character per script
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 2033291 | 14.2% | |
| e | 1236010 | 8.7% |
| a | 911009 | 6.4% |
| i | 786608 | 5.5% |
| o | 757329 | 5.3% |
| n | 745582 | 5.2% |
| r | 730095 | 5.1% |
| s | 719211 | 5.0% |
| t | 698005 | 4.9% |
| l | 462072 | 3.2% |
| Other values (4465) | 5191002 |
Most occurring blocks
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 14270214 |
Most frequent character per block
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 2033291 | 14.2% | |
| e | 1236010 | 8.7% |
| a | 911009 | 6.4% |
| i | 786608 | 5.5% |
| o | 757329 | 5.3% |
| n | 745582 | 5.2% |
| r | 730095 | 5.1% |
| s | 719211 | 5.0% |
| t | 698005 | 4.9% |
| l | 462072 | 3.2% |
| Other values (4465) | 5191002 |
description
Text
MISSING
| Distinct | 143361 |
|---|---|
| Distinct (%) | 69.8% |
| Missing | 13952 |
| Missing (%) | 6.4% |
| Memory size | 108.8 MiB |
Length
| Max length | 260 |
|---|---|
| Median length | 255 |
| Mean length | 187.54147 |
| Min length | 1 |
Characters and Unicode
| Total characters | 38529645 |
|---|---|
| Distinct characters | 5609 |
| Distinct categories | 1 ? |
| Distinct scripts | 1 ? |
| Distinct blocks | 1 ? |
The Unicode Standard assigns character properties to each code point, which can be used to analyse textual variables.
Unique
| Unique | 111654 ? |
|---|---|
| Unique (%) | 54.3% |
Sample
| 1st row | The owners of Cheeky and Dry on Phinney Ridge say theirs is the first NA specialty shop in the city. |
|---|---|
| 2nd row | The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is keeping a close eye on internet providers to make sure they provide Americans with equal access to broadband services regardless of customers' "income level, race, ethnicity, color, religion or national origin." … |
| 3rd row | Exploring the transformative journey of language, now including AI-driven Large Language Models, reveals the impact of words in shaping human thought. |
| 4th row | This 2016 Porsche 911 R is #394 of 991 examples manufactured during a single model year and is powered by a 4.0-liter flat-six linked with a six-speed manual transaxle and a limited-slip differential. The car is finished in white with red stripes over Tarpan … |
| 5th row | A school environment is meant to be the epitome of sanctity, devoid of external vices capable of corrupting or influencing the minds of students. Sadly, that is far from the picture cut by the surroundings of Silver Spring Schools in the Ikotun area of Lagos … |
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| the | 289721 | 4.7% |
| a | 139074 | 2.3% |
| of | 124972 | 2.0% |
| to | 115569 | 1.9% |
| in | 110412 | 1.8% |
| and | 105102 | 1.7% |
| for | 60878 | 1.0% |
| on | 58617 | 1.0% |
| is | 57496 | 0.9% |
| with | 38159 | 0.6% |
| Other values (324542) | 5045245 |
Most occurring characters
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 5948687 | ||
| e | 3520630 | 9.1% |
| a | 2478381 | 6.4% |
| t | 2213839 | 5.7% |
| i | 2158915 | 5.6% |
| n | 2112430 | 5.5% |
| o | 2084418 | 5.4% |
| r | 1950531 | 5.1% |
| s | 1896592 | 4.9% |
| l | 1171294 | 3.0% |
| Other values (5599) | 12993928 |
Most occurring categories
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 38529645 |
Most frequent character per category
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 5948687 | ||
| e | 3520630 | 9.1% |
| a | 2478381 | 6.4% |
| t | 2213839 | 5.7% |
| i | 2158915 | 5.6% |
| n | 2112430 | 5.5% |
| o | 2084418 | 5.4% |
| r | 1950531 | 5.1% |
| s | 1896592 | 4.9% |
| l | 1171294 | 3.0% |
| Other values (5599) | 12993928 |
Most occurring scripts
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 38529645 |
Most frequent character per script
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 5948687 | ||
| e | 3520630 | 9.1% |
| a | 2478381 | 6.4% |
| t | 2213839 | 5.7% |
| i | 2158915 | 5.6% |
| n | 2112430 | 5.5% |
| o | 2084418 | 5.4% |
| r | 1950531 | 5.1% |
| s | 1896592 | 4.9% |
| l | 1171294 | 3.0% |
| Other values (5599) | 12993928 |
Most occurring blocks
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 38529645 |
Most frequent character per block
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 5948687 | ||
| e | 3520630 | 9.1% |
| a | 2478381 | 6.4% |
| t | 2213839 | 5.7% |
| i | 2158915 | 5.6% |
| n | 2112430 | 5.5% |
| o | 2084418 | 5.4% |
| r | 1950531 | 5.1% |
| s | 1896592 | 4.9% |
| l | 1171294 | 3.0% |
| Other values (5599) | 12993928 |
url
URL
MISSING
| Distinct | 147165 |
|---|---|
| Distinct (%) | 76.0% |
| Missing | 25862 |
| Missing (%) | 11.8% |
| Memory size | 31.2 MiB |
| https://removed.com | 4255 |
|---|---|
| https://www.activistpost.com/2023/11/visualizing-food-unaffordability-across-the-world.html | 18 |
| https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/813775 | 15 |
| https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/27/unga-calls-for-humanitarian-truce-in-israel-hamas-war-how-countries-voted | 14 |
| https://deadline.com/feature/taylor-swift-eras-tour-movie-release-date-tickets-1235568399/ | 13 |
| Other values (147160) | |
| (Missing) |
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| https://removed.com | 4255 | 1.9% |
| https://www.activistpost.com/2023/11/visualizing-food-unaffordability-across-the-world.html | 18 | < 0.1% |
| https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/813775 | 15 | < 0.1% |
| https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/27/unga-calls-for-humanitarian-truce-in-israel-hamas-war-how-countries-voted | 14 | < 0.1% |
| https://deadline.com/feature/taylor-swift-eras-tour-movie-release-date-tickets-1235568399/ | 13 | < 0.1% |
| https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/20/fear-driving-chinese-travelers-away-from-2-of-asias-most-popular-places.html | 12 | < 0.1% |
| https://www.wanderingearl.com/barcelona-5-cultural-sites-to-visit/ | 12 | < 0.1% |
| https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/chatgpt-prompts-marketers/ | 11 | < 0.1% |
| https://www.forbes.com/sites/brittanyanas/2023/11/19/the-15-safest-countries-to-travel-to-in-2024-according-to-a-new-report/ | 11 | < 0.1% |
| https://thegatewithbriancohen.com/guyasuta-and-george-washington-in-pittsburgh-sunday-morning-photograph/ | 11 | < 0.1% |
| Other values (147155) | 189164 | |
| (Missing) | 25862 | 11.8% |
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| https | 191014 | |
| http | 2522 | 1.1% |
| (Missing) | 25862 | 11.8% |
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| www.etfdailynews.com | 12137 | 5.5% |
| biztoc.com | 7414 | 3.4% |
| www.globenewswire.com | 5901 | 2.7% |
| www.forbes.com | 5652 | 2.6% |
| www.marketscreener.com | 4575 | 2.1% |
| economictimes.indiatimes.com | 4425 | 2.0% |
| removed.com | 4255 | 1.9% |
| www.bbc.co.uk | 3424 | 1.6% |
| www.globalsecurity.org | 2961 | 1.3% |
| www.businessinsider.com | 2480 | 1.1% |
| Other values (4179) | 140312 | |
| (Missing) | 25862 | 11.8% |
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 4262 | 1.9% | |
| /firehose.pl | 599 | 0.3% |
| / | 586 | 0.3% |
| /plosone/article | 174 | 0.1% |
| /v2/collectConsent | 100 | < 0.1% |
| /news/ | 99 | < 0.1% |
| /nyheter/a/Rr77qd/aftonbladet-direkt | 84 | < 0.1% |
| /zustimmung | 80 | < 0.1% |
| /comment.g | 64 | < 0.1% |
| /news.php | 51 | < 0.1% |
| Other values (145195) | 187437 | |
| (Missing) | 25862 | 11.8% |
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 190497 | ||
| utm_source=feed | 263 | 0.1% |
| post_type=article& | 61 | < 0.1% |
| wt_mc=rss.red.ho.ho.atom.beitrag.beitrag | 47 | < 0.1% |
| rss=1 | 39 | < 0.1% |
| wt_mc=rss.red.ho.ho.atom.beitrag_plus.beitrag_plus | 29 | < 0.1% |
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| tag=winfudedasonl-21&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1 | 21 | < 0.1% |
| wt_mc=rss.red.tr.tr.atom.beitrag.beitrag | 20 | < 0.1% |
| seccao=Portugal_i | 16 | < 0.1% |
| Other values (2071) | 2519 | 1.1% |
| (Missing) | 25862 | 11.8% |
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 193081 | ||
| article | 169 | 0.1% |
| utm_source=feed_news&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed | 94 | < 0.1% |
| post-content-body | 31 | < 0.1% |
| xtor=RSS-300021 | 19 | < 0.1% |
| utm_source=rss | 5 | < 0.1% |
| 038;p=457363 | 5 | < 0.1% |
| 038;p=472244 | 5 | < 0.1% |
| comments | 4 | < 0.1% |
| 043175 | 3 | < 0.1% |
| Other values (95) | 120 | 0.1% |
| (Missing) | 25862 | 11.8% |
url_to_image
Text
MISSING
| Distinct | 119797 |
|---|---|
| Distinct (%) | 66.3% |
| Missing | 38842 |
| Missing (%) | 17.7% |
| Memory size | 31.4 MiB |
Length
| Max length | 1465 |
|---|---|
| Median length | 412 |
| Mean length | 108.2158 |
| Min length | 14 |
Characters and Unicode
| Total characters | 19539012 |
|---|---|
| Distinct characters | 497 |
| Distinct categories | 1 ? |
| Distinct scripts | 1 ? |
| Distinct blocks | 1 ? |
The Unicode Standard assigns character properties to each code point, which can be used to analyse textual variables.
Unique
| Unique | 91960 ? |
|---|---|
| Unique (%) | 50.9% |
Sample
| 1st row | https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/EYo9CCw1PYHtG6f1x6Q06IRYDFI=/0x457:4032x2568/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25081594/cheeky_and_dry.jpg |
|---|---|
| 2nd row | https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/dr5xwyY.yEDO_OZBSP8lBQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyMDA7aD05Njc-/https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2023-11/ba3747e0-8471-11ee-beea-57799ae47a48 |
| 3rd row | https://cdn2.psychologytoday.com/assets/styles/manual_crop_1_91_1_1528x800/public/field_blog_entry_images/2023-11/TechnoCreation_0.png.jpg?itok=676TZ8sK |
| 4th row | https://bringatrailer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/2016_porsche_911-r_2016_porsche_911-r_ad6801eb-d2ff-49eb-b2f2-b2cd84c388d3-vkpbe5-05872-90774.jpg |
| 5th row | https://cdn.punchng.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/17222327/gambling.jpg |
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| https://www.marketscreener.com/images/twitter_ms_fdnoir.png | 2032 | 1.1% |
| https://www.marketscreener.com/images/twitter_ms_fdblanc.png | 1953 | 1.1% |
| https://cdn08.allafrica.com/static/images/structure/aa-logo-rgba-no-text-square.png | 1472 | 0.8% |
| https://ml.globenewswire.com/resource/download/908fb457-7f8e-4a08-9081-5565e3dfb3d7 | 680 | 0.4% |
| https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.investorsobserver.com/io-logo-800x450.jpg | 680 | 0.4% |
| https://ml.globenewswire.com/resource/download/b27a94e8-407e-46ae-a5c2-47bb2a1c8a2e | 422 | 0.2% |
| https://sportshub.cbsistatic.com/i/r/2019/11/06/f93a1691-1afb-4ff8-bc0e-06a49a5126f9/thumbnail/1200x675/cbb0b742977fbfc4f6ee3839bfe83e44/college-basketball-rim.jpg | 372 | 0.2% |
| https://ml.globenewswire.com/resource/download/ced67b94-5d6b-4532-b365-e1f1f26f8f16 | 295 | 0.2% |
| https://s.abcnews.com/images/us/abc_news_default_2000x2000_update_16x9_992.jpg | 284 | 0.2% |
| https://japan.cnet.com/media/c/2012/images/logo/logo_ogp_1200.png | 284 | 0.2% |
| Other values (119986) | 172429 |
Most occurring characters
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| / | 1262040 | 6.5% |
| t | 1107818 | 5.7% |
| e | 1012537 | 5.2% |
| s | 825069 | 4.2% |
| o | 797047 | 4.1% |
| a | 783075 | 4.0% |
| p | 715123 | 3.7% |
| i | 707778 | 3.6% |
| c | 688354 | 3.5% |
| 0 | 673260 | 3.4% |
| Other values (487) | 10966911 |
Most occurring categories
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 19539012 |
Most frequent character per category
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| / | 1262040 | 6.5% |
| t | 1107818 | 5.7% |
| e | 1012537 | 5.2% |
| s | 825069 | 4.2% |
| o | 797047 | 4.1% |
| a | 783075 | 4.0% |
| p | 715123 | 3.7% |
| i | 707778 | 3.6% |
| c | 688354 | 3.5% |
| 0 | 673260 | 3.4% |
| Other values (487) | 10966911 |
Most occurring scripts
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 19539012 |
Most frequent character per script
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| / | 1262040 | 6.5% |
| t | 1107818 | 5.7% |
| e | 1012537 | 5.2% |
| s | 825069 | 4.2% |
| o | 797047 | 4.1% |
| a | 783075 | 4.0% |
| p | 715123 | 3.7% |
| i | 707778 | 3.6% |
| c | 688354 | 3.5% |
| 0 | 673260 | 3.4% |
| Other values (487) | 10966911 |
Most occurring blocks
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 19539012 |
Most frequent character per block
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| / | 1262040 | 6.5% |
| t | 1107818 | 5.7% |
| e | 1012537 | 5.2% |
| s | 825069 | 4.2% |
| o | 797047 | 4.1% |
| a | 783075 | 4.0% |
| p | 715123 | 3.7% |
| i | 707778 | 3.6% |
| c | 688354 | 3.5% |
| 0 | 673260 | 3.4% |
| Other values (487) | 10966911 |
published_at
Date
MISSING
| Distinct | 119238 |
|---|---|
| Distinct (%) | 61.6% |
| Missing | 25862 |
| Missing (%) | 11.8% |
| Memory size | 3.3 MiB |
| Minimum | 1970-01-01 00:00:00 |
|---|---|
| Maximum | 2023-12-01 12:51:49 |
Histogram with fixed size bins (bins=50)
content
Text
MISSING
| Distinct | 142932 |
|---|---|
| Distinct (%) | 73.9% |
| Missing | 25964 |
| Missing (%) | 11.8% |
| Memory size | 131.3 MiB |
Length
| Max length | 217 |
|---|---|
| Median length | 214 |
| Mean length | 206.24573 |
| Min length | 1 |
Characters and Unicode
| Total characters | 39894937 |
|---|---|
| Distinct characters | 1314 |
| Distinct categories | 1 ? |
| Distinct scripts | 1 ? |
| Distinct blocks | 1 ? |
The Unicode Standard assigns character properties to each code point, which can be used to analyse textual variables.
Unique
| Unique | 112702 ? |
|---|---|
| Unique (%) | 58.3% |
Sample
| 1st row | Kirstin Vracko (right) and Yura Vracko, the owners of Cheeky and Dry | Harry Cheadle The owners of Cheeky and Dry on Phinney Ridge say theirs is the first NA specialty shop in the city The prob… [+3315 chars] |
|---|---|
| 2nd row | The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is keeping a close eye on internet providers to make sure they provide Americans with equal access to broadband services regardless of customers' "income l… [+2224 chars] |
| 3rd row | The evolution of human language has been inextricably linked with our conceptualization of creativity and even creation itself. This narrative, which spans millennia, is enriched by the ancient conce… [+5866 chars] |
| 4th row | This 2016 Porsche 911 R is #394 of 991 examples manufactured during a single model year and is powered by a 4.0-liter flat-six linked with a six-speed manual transaxle and a limited-slip differential… [+3502 chars] |
| 5th row | A school environment is meant to be the epitome of sanctity, devoid of external vices capable of corrupting or influencing the minds of students. Sadly, that is far from the picture cut by the surro… [+11599 chars] |
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| the | 260105 | 4.0% |
| chars | 183427 | 2.9% |
| a | 133323 | 2.1% |
| of | 123194 | 1.9% |
| in | 114361 | 1.8% |
| to | 111064 | 1.7% |
| and | 95835 | 1.5% |
| 91642 | 1.4% | |
| on | 58563 | 0.9% |
| is | 47629 | 0.7% |
| Other values (329303) | 5209057 |
Most occurring characters
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 6095381 | ||
| e | 3335422 | 8.4% |
| a | 2589788 | 6.5% |
| t | 2162938 | 5.4% |
| i | 2095747 | 5.3% |
| n | 2063763 | 5.2% |
| r | 2044581 | 5.1% |
| o | 2014097 | 5.0% |
| s | 1947371 | 4.9% |
| h | 1182823 | 3.0% |
| Other values (1304) | 14363026 |
Most occurring categories
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 39894937 |
Most frequent character per category
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 6095381 | ||
| e | 3335422 | 8.4% |
| a | 2589788 | 6.5% |
| t | 2162938 | 5.4% |
| i | 2095747 | 5.3% |
| n | 2063763 | 5.2% |
| r | 2044581 | 5.1% |
| o | 2014097 | 5.0% |
| s | 1947371 | 4.9% |
| h | 1182823 | 3.0% |
| Other values (1304) | 14363026 |
Most occurring scripts
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 39894937 |
Most frequent character per script
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 6095381 | ||
| e | 3335422 | 8.4% |
| a | 2589788 | 6.5% |
| t | 2162938 | 5.4% |
| i | 2095747 | 5.3% |
| n | 2063763 | 5.2% |
| r | 2044581 | 5.1% |
| o | 2014097 | 5.0% |
| s | 1947371 | 4.9% |
| h | 1182823 | 3.0% |
| Other values (1304) | 14363026 |
Most occurring blocks
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 39894937 |
Most frequent character per block
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 6095381 | ||
| e | 3335422 | 8.4% |
| a | 2589788 | 6.5% |
| t | 2162938 | 5.4% |
| i | 2095747 | 5.3% |
| n | 2063763 | 5.2% |
| r | 2044581 | 5.1% |
| o | 2014097 | 5.0% |
| s | 1947371 | 4.9% |
| h | 1182823 | 3.0% |
| Other values (1304) | 14363026 |
category
Text
MISSING
| Distinct | 258 |
|---|---|
| Distinct (%) | 0.1% |
| Missing | 25956 |
| Missing (%) | 11.8% |
| Memory size | 14.3 MiB |
Length
| Max length | 37 |
|---|---|
| Median length | 24 |
| Mean length | 7.209913 |
| Min length | 3 |
Characters and Unicode
| Total characters | 1394700 |
|---|---|
| Distinct characters | 57 |
| Distinct categories | 1 ? |
| Distinct scripts | 1 ? |
| Distinct blocks | 1 ? |
The Unicode Standard assigns character properties to each code point, which can be used to analyse textual variables.
Unique
| Unique | 0 ? |
|---|---|
| Unique (%) | 0.0% |
Sample
| 1st row | Chile |
|---|---|
| 2nd row | Artificial Intelligence |
| 3rd row | Art |
| 4th row | Climate |
| 5th row | Sustainability |
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| stock | 3742 | 1.8% |
| united | 3685 | 1.7% |
| africa | 3599 | 1.7% |
| health | 3482 | 1.6% |
| technology | 3300 | 1.6% |
| news | 3279 | 1.6% |
| covid | 2990 | 1.4% |
| food | 2910 | 1.4% |
| 2907 | 1.4% | |
| finance | 2886 | 1.4% |
| Other values (280) | 178286 |
Most occurring characters
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| a | 148456 | 10.6% |
| e | 123811 | 8.9% |
| i | 110416 | 7.9% |
| o | 96052 | 6.9% |
| n | 90670 | 6.5% |
| t | 82136 | 5.9% |
| r | 75338 | 5.4% |
| s | 62945 | 4.5% |
| c | 55503 | 4.0% |
| l | 54365 | 3.9% |
| Other values (47) | 495008 |
Most occurring categories
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 1394700 |
Most frequent character per category
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| a | 148456 | 10.6% |
| e | 123811 | 8.9% |
| i | 110416 | 7.9% |
| o | 96052 | 6.9% |
| n | 90670 | 6.5% |
| t | 82136 | 5.9% |
| r | 75338 | 5.4% |
| s | 62945 | 4.5% |
| c | 55503 | 4.0% |
| l | 54365 | 3.9% |
| Other values (47) | 495008 |
Most occurring scripts
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 1394700 |
Most frequent character per script
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| a | 148456 | 10.6% |
| e | 123811 | 8.9% |
| i | 110416 | 7.9% |
| o | 96052 | 6.9% |
| n | 90670 | 6.5% |
| t | 82136 | 5.9% |
| r | 75338 | 5.4% |
| s | 62945 | 4.5% |
| c | 55503 | 4.0% |
| l | 54365 | 3.9% |
| Other values (47) | 495008 |
Most occurring blocks
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 1394700 |
Most frequent character per block
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| a | 148456 | 10.6% |
| e | 123811 | 8.9% |
| i | 110416 | 7.9% |
| o | 96052 | 6.9% |
| n | 90670 | 6.5% |
| t | 82136 | 5.9% |
| r | 75338 | 5.4% |
| s | 62945 | 4.5% |
| c | 55503 | 4.0% |
| l | 54365 | 3.9% |
| Other values (47) | 495008 |
full_content
Text
MISSING
| Distinct | 11624 |
|---|---|
| Distinct (%) | 98.3% |
| Missing | 207575 |
| Missing (%) | 94.6% |
| Memory size | 195.4 MiB |
Length
| Max length | 438645 |
|---|---|
| Median length | 6235 |
| Mean length | 5912.5106 |
| Min length | 1 |
Characters and Unicode
| Total characters | 69903613 |
|---|---|
| Distinct characters | 1358 |
| Distinct categories | 1 ? |
| Distinct scripts | 1 ? |
| Distinct blocks | 1 ? |
The Unicode Standard assigns character properties to each code point, which can be used to analyse textual variables.
Unique
| Unique | 11429 ? |
|---|---|
| Unique (%) | 96.7% |
Sample
| 1st row | A school environment is meant to be the epitome of sanctity, devoid of external vices capable of corrupting or influencing the minds of students.Sadly, that is far from the picture cut by the surroundings of Silver Spring Schools in the Ikotun area of Lagos State.For a first-time visitor to the area, it would be difficult to locate the school as it is obscured by a series of stalls and kiosks built close to the drainage, by the school fence.The first impression that comes to mind on getting to the place is that of a fast-expanding local market meant to serve the immediate needs of those living close by.However, a closer look would reveal something more sinister, a melting pot for gamblers and alcoholics.Based on findings made by our correspondent, due to easy access to alcoholic drinks packaged in sachets, students in schools around the area find pleasure in converging at the market to indulge and after getting high, would break into fights, disrupting the peace of the area.How, succour came the way of motorists, residents and business owners, who have over the years complained about the activities of the traders.Officials of the Lagos Waste Management Authority and the state’s Ministry of Environment stormed the area and demolished stalls and kiosks built by the traders on the drainage channel beside the school.Saturday PUNCHlearnt that this development followed a request made by a lawyer and development consultant, Mrs Iyabo Awokoya to the Lagos State Ministry of Education and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency via her verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday.Meanwhile, according to the official internet portal for all schools in the state known as ‘Lagos Schools Online’, the Silver Springs Schools, which is situated at Onitire, Abaranje, was started by its proprietress, Mrs Olaide Fawehinmi in 2001.The school, our correspondent gathered, has about 105 students and has another college located in Ijeshatedo, Surulere.In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. Sadly, that is far from the picture cut by the surroundings of Silver Spring Schools in the Ikotun area of Lagos State.For a first-time visitor to the area, it would be difficult to locate the school as it is obscured by a series of stalls and kiosks built close to the drainage, by the school fence.The first impression that comes to mind on getting to the place is that of a fast-expanding local market meant to serve the immediate needs of those living close by.However, a closer look would reveal something more sinister, a melting pot for gamblers and alcoholics.Based on findings made by our correspondent, due to easy access to alcoholic drinks packaged in sachets, students in schools around the area find pleasure in converging at the market to indulge and after getting high, would break into fights, disrupting the peace of the area.How, succour came the way of motorists, residents and business owners, who have over the years complained about the activities of the traders.Officials of the Lagos Waste Management Authority and the state’s Ministry of Environment stormed the area and demolished stalls and kiosks built by the traders on the drainage channel beside the school.Saturday PUNCHlearnt that this development followed a request made by a lawyer and development consultant, Mrs Iyabo Awokoya to the Lagos State Ministry of Education and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency via her verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday.Meanwhile, according to the official internet portal for all schools in the state known as ‘Lagos Schools Online’, the Silver Springs Schools, which is situated at Onitire, Abaranje, was started by its proprietress, Mrs Olaide Fawehinmi in 2001.The school, our correspondent gathered, has about 105 students and has another college located in Ijeshatedo, Surulere.In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. For a first-time visitor to the area, it would be difficult to locate the school as it is obscured by a series of stalls and kiosks built close to the drainage, by the school fence.The first impression that comes to mind on getting to the place is that of a fast-expanding local market meant to serve the immediate needs of those living close by.However, a closer look would reveal something more sinister, a melting pot for gamblers and alcoholics.Based on findings made by our correspondent, due to easy access to alcoholic drinks packaged in sachets, students in schools around the area find pleasure in converging at the market to indulge and after getting high, would break into fights, disrupting the peace of the area.How, succour came the way of motorists, residents and business owners, who have over the years complained about the activities of the traders.Officials of the Lagos Waste Management Authority and the state’s Ministry of Environment stormed the area and demolished stalls and kiosks built by the traders on the drainage channel beside the school.Saturday PUNCHlearnt that this development followed a request made by a lawyer and development consultant, Mrs Iyabo Awokoya to the Lagos State Ministry of Education and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency via her verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday.Meanwhile, according to the official internet portal for all schools in the state known as ‘Lagos Schools Online’, the Silver Springs Schools, which is situated at Onitire, Abaranje, was started by its proprietress, Mrs Olaide Fawehinmi in 2001.The school, our correspondent gathered, has about 105 students and has another college located in Ijeshatedo, Surulere.In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. The first impression that comes to mind on getting to the place is that of a fast-expanding local market meant to serve the immediate needs of those living close by.However, a closer look would reveal something more sinister, a melting pot for gamblers and alcoholics.Based on findings made by our correspondent, due to easy access to alcoholic drinks packaged in sachets, students in schools around the area find pleasure in converging at the market to indulge and after getting high, would break into fights, disrupting the peace of the area.How, succour came the way of motorists, residents and business owners, who have over the years complained about the activities of the traders.Officials of the Lagos Waste Management Authority and the state’s Ministry of Environment stormed the area and demolished stalls and kiosks built by the traders on the drainage channel beside the school.Saturday PUNCHlearnt that this development followed a request made by a lawyer and development consultant, Mrs Iyabo Awokoya to the Lagos State Ministry of Education and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency via her verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday.Meanwhile, according to the official internet portal for all schools in the state known as ‘Lagos Schools Online’, the Silver Springs Schools, which is situated at Onitire, Abaranje, was started by its proprietress, Mrs Olaide Fawehinmi in 2001.The school, our correspondent gathered, has about 105 students and has another college located in Ijeshatedo, Surulere.In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. However, a closer look would reveal something more sinister, a melting pot for gamblers and alcoholics.Based on findings made by our correspondent, due to easy access to alcoholic drinks packaged in sachets, students in schools around the area find pleasure in converging at the market to indulge and after getting high, would break into fights, disrupting the peace of the area.How, succour came the way of motorists, residents and business owners, who have over the years complained about the activities of the traders.Officials of the Lagos Waste Management Authority and the state’s Ministry of Environment stormed the area and demolished stalls and kiosks built by the traders on the drainage channel beside the school.Saturday PUNCHlearnt that this development followed a request made by a lawyer and development consultant, Mrs Iyabo Awokoya to the Lagos State Ministry of Education and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency via her verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday.Meanwhile, according to the official internet portal for all schools in the state known as ‘Lagos Schools Online’, the Silver Springs Schools, which is situated at Onitire, Abaranje, was started by its proprietress, Mrs Olaide Fawehinmi in 2001.The school, our correspondent gathered, has about 105 students and has another college located in Ijeshatedo, Surulere.In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. Based on findings made by our correspondent, due to easy access to alcoholic drinks packaged in sachets, students in schools around the area find pleasure in converging at the market to indulge and after getting high, would break into fights, disrupting the peace of the area.How, succour came the way of motorists, residents and business owners, who have over the years complained about the activities of the traders.Officials of the Lagos Waste Management Authority and the state’s Ministry of Environment stormed the area and demolished stalls and kiosks built by the traders on the drainage channel beside the school.Saturday PUNCHlearnt that this development followed a request made by a lawyer and development consultant, Mrs Iyabo Awokoya to the Lagos State Ministry of Education and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency via her verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday.Meanwhile, according to the official internet portal for all schools in the state known as ‘Lagos Schools Online’, the Silver Springs Schools, which is situated at Onitire, Abaranje, was started by its proprietress, Mrs Olaide Fawehinmi in 2001.The school, our correspondent gathered, has about 105 students and has another college located in Ijeshatedo, Surulere.In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. How, succour came the way of motorists, residents and business owners, who have over the years complained about the activities of the traders.Officials of the Lagos Waste Management Authority and the state’s Ministry of Environment stormed the area and demolished stalls and kiosks built by the traders on the drainage channel beside the school.Saturday PUNCHlearnt that this development followed a request made by a lawyer and development consultant, Mrs Iyabo Awokoya to the Lagos State Ministry of Education and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency via her verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday.Meanwhile, according to the official internet portal for all schools in the state known as ‘Lagos Schools Online’, the Silver Springs Schools, which is situated at Onitire, Abaranje, was started by its proprietress, Mrs Olaide Fawehinmi in 2001.The school, our correspondent gathered, has about 105 students and has another college located in Ijeshatedo, Surulere.In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. Officials of the Lagos Waste Management Authority and the state’s Ministry of Environment stormed the area and demolished stalls and kiosks built by the traders on the drainage channel beside the school.Saturday PUNCHlearnt that this development followed a request made by a lawyer and development consultant, Mrs Iyabo Awokoya to the Lagos State Ministry of Education and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency via her verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday.Meanwhile, according to the official internet portal for all schools in the state known as ‘Lagos Schools Online’, the Silver Springs Schools, which is situated at Onitire, Abaranje, was started by its proprietress, Mrs Olaide Fawehinmi in 2001.The school, our correspondent gathered, has about 105 students and has another college located in Ijeshatedo, Surulere.In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. Saturday PUNCHlearnt that this development followed a request made by a lawyer and development consultant, Mrs Iyabo Awokoya to the Lagos State Ministry of Education and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency via her verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday.Meanwhile, according to the official internet portal for all schools in the state known as ‘Lagos Schools Online’, the Silver Springs Schools, which is situated at Onitire, Abaranje, was started by its proprietress, Mrs Olaide Fawehinmi in 2001.The school, our correspondent gathered, has about 105 students and has another college located in Ijeshatedo, Surulere.In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. Meanwhile, according to the official internet portal for all schools in the state known as ‘Lagos Schools Online’, the Silver Springs Schools, which is situated at Onitire, Abaranje, was started by its proprietress, Mrs Olaide Fawehinmi in 2001.The school, our correspondent gathered, has about 105 students and has another college located in Ijeshatedo, Surulere.In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. The school, our correspondent gathered, has about 105 students and has another college located in Ijeshatedo, Surulere.In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. “See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. “And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. Barely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were ea |
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| 2nd row | Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, a French historian at the forefront of a scholarly movement that sought to understand the past from the bottom up, by probing the beliefs and psychology of anonymous peasants and priests rather than the exploits of triumphant generals and rulers, died on Wednesday. He was 94.His family confirmed the death, according to Agence France-Presse and other French news organizations.The magazine L'Obs said he died in Paris. In a statement from the Élysée Palace, president Emmanuel Macron of France called Le Roy Ladurie "one of our greatest historians," adding, "His work truly extended history's domain -- the discipline was enriched because he was able to invent new tools, new approaches, and new subjects." A prolific and eminently readable scholar, Le Roy Ladurie was most familiar for his books "Montaillou: The Promised Land of Error" (1975) and "Carnival in Romans" (1979), both of them bestsellers and instant classics on both sides of the Atlantic. He was a leading member of the Annales movement, which rejected traditional historiography, with its emphasis on great events (the War for Independence, the Bolshevik Revolution), ideologies (capitalism vs. Marxism) and protagonists (George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, Napoleon Bonaparte and the Duke of Wellington, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky). Before the influence of Le Roy Ladurie and other, mainly French, scholars, students were confidently assumed to have mastered the outlines of history if they could recite the dates, describe the cataclysms and memorize the names of the greats. But according to Le Roy Ladurie, they would have only scratched the surface of the human experience through the ages. The Annales school, named after the Paris-based scholarly magazine that was launched in 1929, extended its influence throughout Western Europe and the United States even among historians who did not formally identify themselves with the movement. Its appeal is felt in histories as disparate as the accounts of peasant revolts in pre-Revolution France, slavery in the Americas, witchcraft in Renaissance England and rural bandits in 19th-century Mexico. Le Roy Ladurie sought to explore the "mental universe" of peasants, workers, merchants and clergymen in Europe's preindustrial era. In "Montaillou," he focused on a medieval village in southwestern France, whose inhabitants were swept up by the 13th-century conflict between Roman Catholic orthodoxy and a local heretical group known as the Cathars. A crusade was launched by Pope Innocent III to wipe out the Cathars in Montaillou and dozens of other nearby villages. But hidden heretics persisted for another 100 years. Le Roy Ladurie drew upon the confessions extracted from Montaillou farmers and shepherds by Inquisition officials. Besides religious beliefs, these interrogations revealed everyday work and household routines, friendships and rivalries, family relationships and sexual practices of the defendants. In one startling chapter, a heretical, womanizing village priest explains his seduction techniques in great detail and color. "Montaillou" gained enthusiasts among scholars and popular audiences. "A wholly successful demonstration of the historian's capacity to bring together almost every dimension of human experience into a single, satisfying whole," British historian Keith Thomas wrote in The New York Review of Books in 1978. Le Roy Ladurie explained the book's appeal among nonacademic readers in less august terms. "A question of histoires de fesses," he told an interviewer in 1985, meaning "sex stories" in French slang. He followed "Montaillou" with "Carnival in Romans." Set in the southeastern French town of Romans-sur-Isère in 1580, the book investigates a bloody ambush that takes place during the annual Mardi Gras festivities, reconstructing the tensions between craftsmen and peasants on one side and merchants and aristocrats on the other. The book implied that the class and cultural conflicts in this little known river port were part of the road to the French Revolution two centuries later. "Le Roy Ladurie's fascinating, social, political, anthropological and psychological approach to the revolt at Romans, sets us sure-footedly on the journey," British historian Olwen Hufton wrote in a 1980 critique for History Today. Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie was born on July 19, 1929, in Les Moutiers-en-Cinglais, a village in Normandy. His father, Jacques Le Roy Ladurie, was a former minister of agriculture in the collaborationist Vichy government who joined the resistance against the Nazi occupation of France. His mother, Léontine Dauger, was the daughter of a viscount. Emmanuel was a brilliant student who gained a doctorate in history at the University of Paris and went on to head the history of modern civilization department at the prestigious Collège de France. He published more than 30 books and still found time to make frequent contributions to Le Monde, Le Nouvel Observateur (now L'Obs) and L'Express. Among his other notable works were "La Sorcière de Jasmin" ("Jasmin's Witch," 1983), about sorcery practices in a 17th-century village in Gascony; "Histoire des paysans français de la peste noire à la Révolution" ("A History of the French Peasants From the Black Plague to the Revolution," 2002); and "Les fluctuations du climat de l'an mil à aujourd'hui" ("Climate Fluctuations From the Year 1000 Until Today," 2011). From 1987 to 1994, he was director of the Bibliotèque Nationale, France's national library. His wife, Madeleine Pupponi, a physician with a strong interest in climate change, helped him research the environmental impact of retreating glaciers in climate history. They had two children. There was no immediate information on his survivors. Le Roy Ladurie joined the French Communist Party as a teenager in 1945. Though he said he began to regret his Communist affiliation after the Red Army crushed the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, he remained in the party for seven more years. He continued to hold strongly left-wing views and often clashed with more conservative historians. He had a particularly nasty dispute with his former mentor, Fernand Braudel, himself a leading exponent of the Annales school and a famed historian of capitalism. Le Roy Ladurie and his younger colleagues took issue with Braudel's more global approach to history in favor of a so-called history of mentalities, which focuses on the biographies of the downtrodden. In 1972, they forced the older scholar to give up his post as editor of Annales magazine and to step down as director of the École Pratique des Hautes Études, the institution most identified with the movement. Over the next two decades, Le Roy Ladurie's vision for the Annales school gathered strength among his peers. In Italy, Carlo Ginzburg published "The Cheese and the Worms" (1976), the story of an obscure miller burned at the stake by the Inquisition for his insistence that God and the universe were created from rot. In the United States, Princeton University scholar Robert Darnton published a 1984 bestseller, "The Great Cat Massacre," whose title essay explained why apprentices at an 18th-century Paris printer thought it was great fun to slaughter their bosses' pets. And "The Return of Martin Guerre" (1983) by another Princeton historian, Natalie Zemon Davis (who died last month), was made into a 1982 movie about a 16th-century French peasant (played by Gérard Depardieu) who assumed another person's identity so successfully that he managed to fool the man's wife, parents and friends. But already by the mid-1980s, the pendulum had started to swing away from the historiography of Le Roy Ladurie and his Annales colleagues. Complaining that their approach was too dismissive of the drama of great events and the influence of political leaders, other scholars argued that any history of ancient Rome still left Caesar, Augustus, Pompey and Nero at center stage, or that the life of Isaac Newton mattered more than any witches burned at the stake in 17th-century England. The Annales movement also seemed reluctant to tackle the modern era beginning with the Industrial Revolution and culminating in the two world wars. "We have tended to fall back on the old prejudice of historians against dealing with subjects that are too close to the present," Le Roy Ladurie conceded in the 1985 interview. "But this should not discredit the Annales method. Perhaps it is less important that the Annales method has not yet succeeded in satisfactorily explaining the last 100 years if it has helped us to illuminate the thousand years before then." |
| 3rd row | Gene Fay is CEO of ThreatX, a leading API protection platform. The cybersecurity talent gap poses a significant threat to our ability to thwart attacks on enterprises and government entities alike, and the industry is in desperate need of professionals to address tomorrow’s threats. As the world faces economic and geopolitical stressors while simultaneously growing more dependent on technology, there’s a critical need to grow the cyber workforce. So, what’s causing this talent gap? There are several contributing factors, from lack of access to cybersecurity education and mentorship to outdated hiring standards. The cybersecurity industry is limiting itself, and to make a comeback, it’s crucial that leaders at the very top take actionable steps to make cybersecurity a more attainable career choice early on. Although there are a handful of ways to get started, I’d like to focus specifically on one key initiative in particular—building a more supportive cybersecurity community. Let’s explore this and the benefits of reprioritizing the cybersecurity community in more detail. Providing More Community Building With Current Employees Gone are the days when work environments took place 100% in an office setting. The aftermath of Covid-19 redefined the modern workplace, and it’s hard to find an organization today that can retain top talent with a strict in-person work policy. And although remote work has introduced many benefits to the industry—including sourcing talent from new locations, creating more flexible schedules for employees and reducing in-office costs—there's one glaring negative to this new model: the lost sense of community that in-office interactions provided. Watercooler chats, coffee breaks and after-work socials are, in most cases, no longer core elements of a company’s culture. Similarly, employees lost the organic exposure to different facets of an organization, meaning there’s now a disconnect when it comes to employees having the opportunity to learn new skills or connect with other departments. To replace these missing components in our virtual office settings, security leaders must find new ways to encourage community and build a new culture that gives cybersecurity professionals the opportunity to evolve in their roles. One way to do this is by exposing employees to different skills in cybersecurity outside of their day-to-day roles by providing opportunities to connect with their peers. By prioritizing meaningful in-person events on a recurring basis, organizations can integrate employees from different departments and at different levels, re-creating those watercooler moments in a new and fun setting. This allows leaders to offer an organic environment for networking within the company that creates new dialogues and ideas and may help expose potential career growth options. Outside of in-person events, leaders can create a virtual space for employees that allows them to step outside of their day-to-day work mindset. By creating personalized Slack or Teams channels that connect cybersecurity staff with different teams and departments they wouldn’t typically interact with, leaders can give employees yet another opportunity to explore additional roles within the company. One of the most powerful ways to build community is by encouraging peer mentorship and training. By arming employees with the tools to learn about different roles available within the company, leaders will find that cross-department collaboration often leads to new ideas that enhance company success. The other benefit of these two strategies is that both provide the opportunity to create “cyber generalists,” meaning your employees have new skill sets to navigate different responsibilities during a time when talent is sparse. Providing More Community Building With Potential Employees Outside of building community among employees currently at an organization, there's a huge opportunity for leaders to inspire community building with prospective employees as well, even at a young age. By partnering with local universities and high schools, organizations can give students an inside peek into what the cybersecurity industry has to offer. So, how can leaders get younger prospects just entering the workforce more interested in the field? An easy first step is creating opportunities for hands-on learning experiences that highlight what a day in the life of a cybersecurity professional looks like. This could be an organized “open house” event that invites local candidates to socialize with current employees. This forum gives them an opportunity to ask questions in a networking environment that removes the pressures of a traditional interview setting. Additionally, leaders should explore opportunities to give back to local communities by partnering with education systems to start clubs or after-school programs for students who are interested in learning more about STEM careers but may not have the resources to do so. Not only does this give exposure to the cybersecurity field, but it's also a great way to get an organization's name out there to up-and-coming talent. This way, when it's time for these prospects to apply for jobs, they already have your organization at the top of the list. With this method, you're kicking off building a cybersecurity community before prospects have even entered the field, meaning the funnel of new talent will already have a strong foundation. Embracing Community In 2024 For an industry that's already lacking talent, losing the talent you do have is a non-option. In today's world, cybersecurity leaders will no longer be able to find the perfect candidate who's readily available to be scooped up. By reassessing what it means to build a cybersecurity community, security leaders can help prepare the world for a more secure future. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify? |
| 4th row | 1ST Source Bank lowered its position in DuPont de Nemours, Inc. (NYSE:DD–Free Report) by 1.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,755 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 248 shares during the period. 1ST Source Bank’s holdings in DuPont de Nemours were worth $1,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in DuPont de Nemours by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 17,547 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 4,351 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in DuPont de Nemours by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 225,849 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,209,000 after purchasing an additional 5,433 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its stake in DuPont de Nemours by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 5,868 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in shares of DuPont de Nemours by 43.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 57,809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,130,000 after buying an additional 17,398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pettee Investors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of DuPont de Nemours by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pettee Investors Inc. now owns 23,313 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,665,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.25% of the company’s stock. In other news, SVPRaj Ratnakarsold 15,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.56, for a total transaction of $1,180,881.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,365,043.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed throughthe SEC website. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock. Want More Great Investing Ideas?10 Stocks to Sell NOW!3 Stocks to DOUBLE This YearThe 10 Best Stocks to Own in 20237 Stocks to Buy and Hold ForeverDD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of DuPont de Nemours in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of DuPont de Nemours from $77.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 2nd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of DuPont de Nemours from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 4th.StockNews.combegan coverage on shares of DuPont de Nemours in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of DuPont de Nemours from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.00. Get Our Latest Analysis on DuPont de Nemours DuPont de Nemours stockopened at $68.74 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $29.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. DuPont de Nemours, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.80 and a twelve month high of $78.74. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $73.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.05. DuPont de Nemours (NYSE:DD–Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.15 billion. DuPont de Nemours had a net margin of 37.49% and a return on equity of 6.18%. The business’s revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that DuPont de Nemours, Inc. will post 3.46 EPS for the current year. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 29th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. DuPont de Nemours’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.89%. (Free Report) DuPont de Nemours, Inc provides technology-based materials and solutions in the United States, Canada, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates through Electronics & Industrial, Water & Protection, and Corporate & Other segments. The Electronics & Industrial segment supplies materials and solutions for the fabrication of semiconductors and integrated circuits addressing various steps of the manufacturing process. Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DD?Visit HoldingsChannel.comto get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for DuPont de Nemours, Inc. (NYSE:DD–Free Report). |
| 5th row | NEW DELHI: India's star off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin made a startling revelation on Thursday giving full credit to Australian team management on being tactically outstanding in the World Cup title clash against India at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.Despite facing defeats in the initial two matches of the group stage, Australiamanaged to stage an impressive comeback, securing victory in eight consecutive games.This remarkable turnaround led them to the finals against India, where they clinched the record-extending sixth World Cup title with a six-wicket triumph.Australia, who normally opt to bat after winning the toss, shocked everyone with their decision to bowl first and Ashwin noted that their choice was purely based on their tactical acumen as the pitch's black soil tends to favour batting in the evening, and which ultimately proved to be the masterstroke.“Let me make it clear, Australia did not win because of destiny or luck. They were tactically outstanding in the final. I watched their performance in the final with absolute fascination. Australia and Pat Cummins deceived me. I thought Australia would bat first if they win the toss because, historically, it’s an Aussie thing to ‘win the toss and bat’. The wicket used for the final was not Ahmedabad soil, it was rather from Odisha. It was the kind of wicket that would not disintegrate too much," said Ashwin on his YouTube channel.Ashwin expressed high admiration for Aussie skipper Pat Cummins's "tactical masterclass" in the finals, where Cummins played a pivotal role by securing two crucial wickets, those of Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli."Final was a tactical masterclass by Cummins, he had a 4-5 fielding setup, similar to an off-spinner, hitting stump line - he bowled only 3 balls in the 6 meter mark towards the stump line as not allowing batters to drive - he bowled all-overs without mid-off, a masterclass,” said Ashwin.How Pat Cummins silenced the Ahmedabad crowd with Aussie team's flawless performance in the finalsAshwin also reflected on an interesting conversation he had with Australia's chief selector, George Bailey, during the mid-innings break."I had a chat with George Bailey during the mid innings, I asked him why didn't you guys bat first like you always do - he answered back, we have played IPL & bilateral series here a lot - red soil disintegrates but not black soil & it gets better under lights - no impact on dew on red soil but black soil has good turn in afternoon & then it will be a concrete in night - this is our experience,” said Ashwin. |
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| the | 625868 | 5.7% |
| of | 336893 | 3.1% |
| and | 301502 | 2.7% |
| to | 282957 | 2.6% |
| a | 244700 | 2.2% |
| in | 238385 | 2.2% |
| on | 116237 | 1.1% |
| for | 109910 | 1.0% |
| is | 101922 | 0.9% |
| that | 93923 | 0.9% |
| Other values (256416) | 8544606 |
Most occurring characters
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 11103893 | ||
| e | 6405010 | 9.2% |
| t | 4688167 | 6.7% |
| a | 4558004 | 6.5% |
| o | 4014998 | 5.7% |
| i | 3985370 | 5.7% |
| n | 3946257 | 5.6% |
| s | 3579663 | 5.1% |
| r | 3563399 | 5.1% |
| h | 2206443 | 3.2% |
| Other values (1348) | 21852409 |
Most occurring categories
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 69903613 |
Most frequent character per category
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 11103893 | ||
| e | 6405010 | 9.2% |
| t | 4688167 | 6.7% |
| a | 4558004 | 6.5% |
| o | 4014998 | 5.7% |
| i | 3985370 | 5.7% |
| n | 3946257 | 5.6% |
| s | 3579663 | 5.1% |
| r | 3563399 | 5.1% |
| h | 2206443 | 3.2% |
| Other values (1348) | 21852409 |
Most occurring scripts
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 69903613 |
Most frequent character per script
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 11103893 | ||
| e | 6405010 | 9.2% |
| t | 4688167 | 6.7% |
| a | 4558004 | 6.5% |
| o | 4014998 | 5.7% |
| i | 3985370 | 5.7% |
| n | 3946257 | 5.6% |
| s | 3579663 | 5.1% |
| r | 3563399 | 5.1% |
| h | 2206443 | 3.2% |
| Other values (1348) | 21852409 |
Most occurring blocks
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 69903613 |
Most frequent character per block
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 11103893 | ||
| e | 6405010 | 9.2% |
| t | 4688167 | 6.7% |
| a | 4558004 | 6.5% |
| o | 4014998 | 5.7% |
| i | 3985370 | 5.7% |
| n | 3946257 | 5.6% |
| s | 3579663 | 5.1% |
| r | 3563399 | 5.1% |
| h | 2206443 | 3.2% |
| Other values (1348) | 21852409 |
article
Text
MISSING
| Distinct | 11543 |
|---|---|
| Distinct (%) | 98.4% |
| Missing | 207667 |
| Missing (%) | 94.7% |
| Memory size | 193.2 MiB |
Length
| Max length | 237584 |
|---|---|
| Median length | 6243 |
| Mean length | 5858.8668 |
| Min length | 9 |
Characters and Unicode
| Total characters | 68730366 |
|---|---|
| Distinct characters | 1963 |
| Distinct categories | 1 ? |
| Distinct scripts | 1 ? |
| Distinct blocks | 1 ? |
The Unicode Standard assigns character properties to each code point, which can be used to analyse textual variables.
Unique
| Unique | 11356 ? |
|---|---|
| Unique (%) | 96.8% |
Sample
| 1st row | PTI The IPEF member countries, including India and the US, have concluded negotiations on the fair economy agreement to strengthen the implementation of effective anti-corruption and tax measures to boost commerce, trade and investments, an official statement said on Friday. It was announced after the third Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) ministerial meeting held in San Francisco, California, on November 14. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal participated in the meeting. Enhancing information sharing among partner countries, facilitating asset recovery and strengthening cross-border investigations and prosecutions are the key benefits, which would emerge from the agreement. "Under the Fair Economy, IPEF partners aim to strengthen implementation of effective anti-corruption and tax measures to boost commerce, trade, and investment among IPEF economies," the statement said. Goyal said this will strengthen the joint resolve to fight against corruption, money laundering and terror financing. "At this ministerial meeting, negotiations under the IPEF Pillar-III (Clean Economy), Pillar IV (Fair Economy) and the Agreement on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (which seeks to establish a ministerial-level council and a commission) were substantially concluded," the commerce ministry said. Under the Clean Economy agreement, the 14 IPEF member countries are aiming to advance cooperation on research, development, commercialisation, availability, accessibility, and deployment of clean energy and climate-friendly technologies, and facilitate investment towards climate-related projects in the region, it added. During his intervention under this pillar, Goyal emphasised the need for increased collaboration among partners on research and development of innovative and affordable climate-friendly technologies. He also stressed the need to prioritise the implementation of cooperative work programmes envisaged under this pillar, including the hydrogen supply chain initiative and other proposals in the pipeline like India's proposal for biofuels and e-waste recycling. IPEF was launched jointly by the US and other partner countries of the Indo-Pacific region on May 23 last year in Tokyo. Together, they account for 40 per cent of the world's economic output and 28 per cent of trade. The framework is structured around four pillars relating to trade, supply chains, clean economy and fair economy (issues such as tax and anti-corruption). India has joined all the pillars except the trade. Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the US and Vietnam are members of the bloc. The member countries will now undertake the necessary steps, including further domestic consultations and a legal review, to prepare the final texts of the agreements. Once finalised, the proposed agreements will be subject to IPEF partners' domestic processes for signature, followed by ratification, acceptance, or approval. Experience Your Economic Times Newspaper, The Digital Way! Sunday, 19 Nov, 2023 Read Complete ePaper » Digital View Print View Wealth Edition Hotels, Flights Notch up Bigger Nos than Players Hotel tariffs in Ahmedabad and airfares to the city have surged manifold ahead of Sunday’s World Cup cricket final between India and Australia, forcing many fans to either cough up the staggering rates or alter their travel plans. OpenAI Takes (Alt)Man Out of the Equation OpenAI has ousted its cofounder and chief executive Sam Altman and lost another senior executive after a series of escalating disagreements over fundamental questions at the heart of artificial intelligence: How to keep the tech safe while also making money from it. Dell, HP, Lenovo & 24 Others Okayed Under Rebooted PLI The union government Saturday approved IT hardware manufacturing proposals from 27 companies — both global and domestic — that will bring in cumulative investments of ₹3,000 crore over the next six years. Read More News on Trade agreement India ipef india commerce ministry piyush goyal (Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times .) Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News. ... more less Prime Exclusives Investment Ideas Stock Report Plus ePaper Wealth Edition Ola Electric’s pre-IPO rejig: Bhavish Aggarwal reconstitutes board; shuffles finance leadership Lenskart swings to profit in FY23. Founder Peyush Bansal brings new CPO to strengthen work culture. How should the Centre keep unlawful online betting in check? Maybe just as it handled illegal loan apps. Intermittent fasting has benefits in diabetes, but is overrated like fad diets: Liverdoc Philips Cello World is trading firmly above its issue price. Is it a buy, hold, or sell? Greentoons of the week 1 2 3 View all Stories |
|---|---|
| 2nd row | Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG–Free Report) by 96.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,523 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 18.5% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 23,276,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,453,648,000 after purchasing an additional 3,635,609 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 259.8% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,504,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $275,973,000 after buying an additional 3,252,500 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group in the fourth quarter worth about $141,476,000. Perpetual Ltd purchased a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group in the first quarter worth about $134,900,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 196.2% in the 1st quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,892,166 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,451,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,283 shares in the last quarter. 72.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. In other news, CEORalph A. Larossasold 4,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $259,686.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 112,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,060,788. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available atthe SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,722 shares of company stock worth $295,652. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock. Want More Great Investing Ideas?10 Stocks to Sell NOW!3 Stocks to DOUBLE This YearThe 10 Best Stocks to Own in 20237 Stocks to Buy and Hold ForeverShares ofPEGopened at $63.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.34, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a one year low of $53.71 and a one year high of $65.46. The business has a fifty day moving average of $59.97 and a 200 day moving average of $61.44. Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG–Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.42 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 23.83% and a return on equity of 12.20%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.45 EPS for the current year. A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 25th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $70.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 17th.StockNews.comlowered shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.05. Read Our Latest Analysis on PEG (Free Report) Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company primarily in Mid-Atlantic United States. The company operates through PSE&G and PSEG Power. The PSE&G segment transmits electricity; distributes electricity and gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers, as well as invests in solar generation projects, and energy efficiency and related programs; and offers appliance services and repairs. |
| 3rd row | putin is attending china’s belt and road summit for a third time but the meeting could be overshadowed by wars. russian president vladimir putin has arrived in beijing ahead of a meeting with chinese president xi jinping on wednesday. xi invited his “dear friend” putin to china’s thirdbelt and road initiative forumwhere the leaders of 130 countries will discuss one of xi’s signature international projects. but the meeting’s theme is likely to be overshadowed by theisrael-hamas waras well as russia’s ongoinginvasion of ukraine. china is one of the first countries putin has visited since the hague-based international criminal court (icc)issued an arrest warrantagainst him in march, accusing the russian leader of illegally deporting children from ukraine. china is not one of the 123 countries that are members of the icc, so it is not obliged to transfer putin to the hague for trial. earlier this month, putin visited kyrgyzstan but china is the first outside of former soviet republic countries he has visited this year. kyrgyzstan is also not an icc member. beijing has rejected western criticism of its partnership with moscow even as the war in ukraine continues, insisting that their ties do not violate international norms and that china has the right to collaborate with whichever country it chooses. trade between neighbouring china and russia has been soaring since moscow began its full-scale invasion of ukraine in february 2022, with beijing importing russian oil after other countries placed sanctions on russian imports. in an interview with chinese state broadcaster cgtn ahead of his visit this week, putin said that a “multipolar world is taking shape, and the concepts and initiatives put forward by president xi jinping are highly relevant and significant”, cgtn reported. russia’s top diplomat sergey lavrov has arrived in beijing ahead of putin and held talks with china’s foreign minister wang yi on monday. xi and putinlast met in russiain march this year. speaking at the kremlin during that visit, xi told putin, “right now there are changes – the likes of which we haven’t seen for 100 years – and we are the ones driving these changes together.” putinlast visited chinafor the beijing winter olympics in february 2022 when russia and china released a sweeping 5,000-word statement reaffirming theirno-limits relationship– days before the russian president sent tens of thousands of troops into ukraine. it is the third time putin has attended the belt and road forum, which continues until wednesday. he attended the two previous meetings in 2017 and 2019. putin has alsoaccepted an invitationfrom leader kim jong un to visit north korea after the two presidents met in russia last month. russia’s foreign ministry has already confirmed that lavrov will visit pyongyang after leaving beijing. follow al jazeera english: |
| 4th row | Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Duff & Phelps Utility and Infrastructure Fund Inc. (NYSE:DPG–Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 185,702 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,807,000. Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DPG. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Duff & Phelps Utility and Infrastructure Fund by 9.8% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 11,014 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 980 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its position in shares of Duff & Phelps Utility and Infrastructure Fund by 16.4% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 23,802 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 3,352 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in shares of Duff & Phelps Utility and Infrastructure Fund by 8.6% in the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 23,188 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838 shares during the period. UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Duff & Phelps Utility and Infrastructure Fund by 5.4% in the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 156,123 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,370,000 after purchasing an additional 7,973 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Duff & Phelps Utility and Infrastructure Fund by 8.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 284,332 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $4,316,000 after purchasing an additional 23,115 shares during the period. NYSE:DPGopened at $8.76 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $8.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.19. Duff & Phelps Utility and Infrastructure Fund Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.90 and a twelve month high of $14.29. Want More Great Investing Ideas?10 Stocks to Sell NOW!3 Stocks to DOUBLE This YearThe 10 Best Stocks to Own in 20237 Stocks to Buy and Hold ForeverThe firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 15th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 14th. (Free Report) Duff & Phelps Utility and Infrastructure Fund Inc is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched by Virtus Investment Partners, Inc The fund is managed by Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co It invests in the public equity markets across the globe. The fund seeks to invest in the companies operating in utility sector. Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DPG?Visit HoldingsChannel.comto get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Duff & Phelps Utility and Infrastructure Fund Inc. (NYSE:DPG–Free Report). |
| 5th row | NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea seeking a direction to the Centre to make guidelines for "protection" of Hinduism in India.A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said the apex court was not inclined to entertain a petition with such kind of a prayer.The top court referred to the prayer made in the petition which sought a direction to the authorities of the Government of India to make guidelines for protection of Hinduism here."Somebody will say protect Islam in India. Somebody will say protect Christianity in India," observed the bench, also comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Ahsanuddin Amanullah.It was hearing a plea filed by an Uttar Pradesh-based man, who appeared in-person to argue his case.When the petitioner referred to the educational curriculum, the bench said it was for the government to lay down the curriculum.The bench observed the petitioner cannot say what he wanted should be done by others."You did something, you made something, you can propagate it. Nobody is stopping you. But you can't say everyone should do that," the top court said, while dismissing the plea. |
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| the | 617786 | 5.7% |
| of | 332763 | 3.1% |
| and | 292588 | 2.7% |
| to | 275367 | 2.5% |
| a | 240405 | 2.2% |
| in | 230148 | 2.1% |
| on | 118721 | 1.1% |
| for | 105695 | 1.0% |
| is | 101698 | 0.9% |
| that | 91930 | 0.9% |
| Other values (253312) | 8407572 |
Most occurring characters
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 10915487 | ||
| e | 6305947 | 9.2% |
| t | 4675031 | 6.8% |
| a | 4540367 | 6.6% |
| o | 3988545 | 5.8% |
| i | 3957414 | 5.8% |
| n | 3894580 | 5.7% |
| s | 3578149 | 5.2% |
| r | 3521880 | 5.1% |
| h | 2201174 | 3.2% |
| Other values (1953) | 21151792 |
Most occurring categories
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 68730366 |
Most frequent character per category
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 10915487 | ||
| e | 6305947 | 9.2% |
| t | 4675031 | 6.8% |
| a | 4540367 | 6.6% |
| o | 3988545 | 5.8% |
| i | 3957414 | 5.8% |
| n | 3894580 | 5.7% |
| s | 3578149 | 5.2% |
| r | 3521880 | 5.1% |
| h | 2201174 | 3.2% |
| Other values (1953) | 21151792 |
Most occurring scripts
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 68730366 |
Most frequent character per script
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 10915487 | ||
| e | 6305947 | 9.2% |
| t | 4675031 | 6.8% |
| a | 4540367 | 6.6% |
| o | 3988545 | 5.8% |
| i | 3957414 | 5.8% |
| n | 3894580 | 5.7% |
| s | 3578149 | 5.2% |
| r | 3521880 | 5.1% |
| h | 2201174 | 3.2% |
| Other values (1953) | 21151792 |
Most occurring blocks
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 68730366 |
Most frequent character per block
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| 10915487 | ||
| e | 6305947 | 9.2% |
| t | 4675031 | 6.8% |
| a | 4540367 | 6.6% |
| o | 3988545 | 5.8% |
| i | 3957414 | 5.8% |
| n | 3894580 | 5.7% |
| s | 3578149 | 5.2% |
| r | 3521880 | 5.1% |
| h | 2201174 | 3.2% |
| Other values (1953) | 21151792 |
title_sentiment
Categorical
MISSING
| Distinct | 3 |
|---|---|
| Distinct (%) | < 0.1% |
| Missing | 207667 |
| Missing (%) | 94.7% |
| Memory size | 10.3 MiB |
| Neutral | |
|---|---|
| Negative | |
| Positive |
Length
| Max length | 8 |
|---|---|
| Median length | 7 |
| Mean length | 7.2685193 |
| Min length | 7 |
Characters and Unicode
| Total characters | 85267 |
|---|---|
| Distinct characters | 13 |
| Distinct categories | 1 ? |
| Distinct scripts | 1 ? |
| Distinct blocks | 1 ? |
The Unicode Standard assigns character properties to each code point, which can be used to analyse textual variables.
Unique
| Unique | 0 ? |
|---|---|
| Unique (%) | 0.0% |
Sample
| 1st row | Neutral |
|---|---|
| 2nd row | Neutral |
| 3rd row | Neutral |
| 4th row | Neutral |
| 5th row | Neutral |
Common Values
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| Neutral | 8581 | 3.9% |
| Negative | 1863 | 0.8% |
| Positive | 1287 | 0.6% |
| (Missing) | 207667 |
Length
Histogram of lengths of the category
Common Values (Plot)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| neutral | 8581 | |
| negative | 1863 | 15.9% |
| positive | 1287 | 11.0% |
Most occurring characters
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| e | 13594 | |
| t | 11731 | |
| N | 10444 | |
| a | 10444 | |
| u | 8581 | |
| r | 8581 | |
| l | 8581 | |
| i | 4437 | 5.2% |
| v | 3150 | 3.7% |
| g | 1863 | 2.2% |
| Other values (3) | 3861 | 4.5% |
Most occurring categories
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 85267 |
Most frequent character per category
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| e | 13594 | |
| t | 11731 | |
| N | 10444 | |
| a | 10444 | |
| u | 8581 | |
| r | 8581 | |
| l | 8581 | |
| i | 4437 | 5.2% |
| v | 3150 | 3.7% |
| g | 1863 | 2.2% |
| Other values (3) | 3861 | 4.5% |
Most occurring scripts
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 85267 |
Most frequent character per script
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| e | 13594 | |
| t | 11731 | |
| N | 10444 | |
| a | 10444 | |
| u | 8581 | |
| r | 8581 | |
| l | 8581 | |
| i | 4437 | 5.2% |
| v | 3150 | 3.7% |
| g | 1863 | 2.2% |
| Other values (3) | 3861 | 4.5% |
Most occurring blocks
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| (unknown) | 85267 |
Most frequent character per block
(unknown)
| Value | Count | Frequency (%) |
| e | 13594 | |
| t | 11731 | |
| N | 10444 | |
| a | 10444 | |
| u | 8581 | |
| r | 8581 | |
| l | 8581 | |
| i | 4437 | 5.2% |
| v | 3150 | 3.7% |
| g | 1863 | 2.2% |
| Other values (3) | 3861 | 4.5% |
A simple visualization of nullity by column.
Nullity matrix is a data-dense display which lets you quickly visually pick out patterns in data completion.
The correlation heatmap measures nullity correlation: how strongly the presence or absence of one variable affects the presence of another.
| article_id | source_id | source_name | author | title | description | url | url_to_image | published_at | content | category | full_content | article | title_sentiment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 817027 | 314541 | NaN | Eater | Harry Cheadle | Seattle Just Got a Nonalcoholic Bottle Shop | The owners of Cheeky and Dry on Phinney Ridge say theirs is the first NA specialty shop in the city. | https://seattle.eater.com/2023/11/13/23958188/seattle-nonalcoholic-bottle-shop-phinney-ridge-cheeky-and-dry | https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/EYo9CCw1PYHtG6f1x6Q06IRYDFI=/0x457:4032x2568/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25081594/cheeky_and_dry.jpg | 2023-11-13 19:28:22.000000 | Kirstin Vracko (right) and Yura Vracko, the owners of Cheeky and Dry | Harry Cheadle\r\n\n \n\n The owners of Cheeky and Dry on Phinney Ridge say theirs is the first NA specialty shop in the city The prob… [+3315 chars] | Chile | NaN | NaN | NaN |
| 409800 | The Visitor | NaN | NaN | NaN | NaN | NaN | NaN | NaN | NaN | NaN | NaN | NaN | NaN | NaN |
| 907856 | 405370 | engadget | Engadget | Mariella Moon | The FCC will crack down on ISPs to improve connectivity in poorer areas | The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is keeping a close eye on internet providers to make sure they provide Americans with equal access to broadband services regardless of customers' "income level, race, ethnicity, color, religion or national origin." … | https://www.engadget.com/the-fcc-will-crack-down-on-isps-to-improve-connectivity-in-poorer-areas-125041256.html | https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/dr5xwyY.yEDO_OZBSP8lBQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyMDA7aD05Njc-/https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2023-11/ba3747e0-8471-11ee-beea-57799ae47a48 | 2023-11-16 12:50:41.000000 | The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is keeping a close eye on internet providers to make sure they provide Americans with equal access to broadband services regardless of customers' "income l… [+2224 chars] | Artificial Intelligence | NaN | NaN | NaN |
| 985316 | 482784 | NaN | Psychology Today | John Nosta | The Logos of Our Time | Exploring the transformative journey of language, now including AI-driven Large Language Models, reveals the impact of words in shaping human thought. | https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-digital-self/202311/the-logos-of-our-time-0 | https://cdn2.psychologytoday.com/assets/styles/manual_crop_1_91_1_1528x800/public/field_blog_entry_images/2023-11/TechnoCreation_0.png.jpg?itok=676TZ8sK | 2023-11-19 21:20:36.000000 | The evolution of human language has been inextricably linked with our conceptualization of creativity and even creation itself. This narrative, which spans millennia, is enriched by the ancient conce… [+5866 chars] | Art | NaN | NaN | NaN |
| 246841 | 677516 | NaN | Bringatrailer.com | bringatrailer | 507-Mile 2016 Porsche 911 R | This 2016 Porsche 911 R is #394 of 991 examples manufactured during a single model year and is powered by a 4.0-liter flat-six linked with a six-speed manual transaxle and a limited-slip differential. The car is finished in white with red stripes over Tarpan … | https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2016-porsche-911-r-23/ | https://bringatrailer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/2016_porsche_911-r_2016_porsche_911-r_ad6801eb-d2ff-49eb-b2f2-b2cd84c388d3-vkpbe5-05872-90774.jpg | 2023-11-24 00:40:06.000000 | This 2016 Porsche 911 R is #394 of 991 examples manufactured during a single model year and is powered by a 4.0-liter flat-six linked with a six-speed manual transaxle and a limited-slip differential… [+3502 chars] | Climate | NaN | NaN | NaN |
| 87637 | 441428 | NaN | The Punch | Victor Ayeni | Lagos schools where alcohol, gambling thrive in broad daylight | A school environment is meant to be the epitome of sanctity, devoid of external vices capable of corrupting or influencing the minds of students. Sadly, that is far from the picture cut by the surroundings of Silver Spring Schools in the Ikotun area of Lagos … | https://punchng.com/lagos-schools-where-alcohol-gambling-thrive-in-broad-daylight/ | https://cdn.punchng.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/17222327/gambling.jpg | 2023-11-17 23:01:14 | A school environment is meant to be the epitome of sanctity, devoid of external vices capable of corrupting or influencing the minds of students.\nSadly, that is far from the picture cut by the surro… [+11599 chars] | Sustainability | A school environment is meant to be the epitome of sanctity, devoid of external vices capable of corrupting or influencing the minds of students.Sadly, that is far from the picture cut by the surroundings of Silver Spring Schools in the Ikotun area of Lagos State.For a first-time visitor to the area, it would be difficult to locate the school as it is obscured by a series of stalls and kiosks built close to the drainage, by the school fence.The first impression that comes to mind on getting to the place is that of a fast-expanding local market meant to serve the immediate needs of those living close by.However, a closer look would reveal something more sinister, a melting pot for gamblers and alcoholics.Based on findings made by our correspondent, due to easy access to alcoholic drinks packaged in sachets, students in schools around the area find pleasure in converging at the market to indulge and after getting high, would break into fights, disrupting the peace of the area.How, succour came the way of motorists, residents and business owners, who have over the years complained about the activities of the traders.Officials of the Lagos Waste Management Authority and the state’s Ministry of Environment stormed the area and demolished stalls and kiosks built by the traders on the drainage channel beside the school.Saturday PUNCHlearnt that this development followed a request made by a lawyer and development consultant, Mrs Iyabo Awokoya to the Lagos State Ministry of Education and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency via her verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday.Meanwhile, according to the official internet portal for all schools in the state known as ‘Lagos Schools Online’, the Silver Springs Schools, which is situated at Onitire, Abaranje, was started by its proprietress, Mrs Olaide Fawehinmi in 2001.The school, our correspondent gathered, has about 105 students and has another college located in Ijeshatedo, Surulere.In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. Sadly, that is far from the picture cut by the surroundings of Silver Spring Schools in the Ikotun area of Lagos State.For a first-time visitor to the area, it would be difficult to locate the school as it is obscured by a series of stalls and kiosks built close to the drainage, by the school fence.The first impression that comes to mind on getting to the place is that of a fast-expanding local market meant to serve the immediate needs of those living close by.However, a closer look would reveal something more sinister, a melting pot for gamblers and alcoholics.Based on findings made by our correspondent, due to easy access to alcoholic drinks packaged in sachets, students in schools around the area find pleasure in converging at the market to indulge and after getting high, would break into fights, disrupting the peace of the area.How, succour came the way of motorists, residents and business owners, who have over the years complained about the activities of the traders.Officials of the Lagos Waste Management Authority and the state’s Ministry of Environment stormed the area and demolished stalls and kiosks built by the traders on the drainage channel beside the school.Saturday PUNCHlearnt that this development followed a request made by a lawyer and development consultant, Mrs Iyabo Awokoya to the Lagos State Ministry of Education and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency via her verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday.Meanwhile, according to the official internet portal for all schools in the state known as ‘Lagos Schools Online’, the Silver Springs Schools, which is situated at Onitire, Abaranje, was started by its proprietress, Mrs Olaide Fawehinmi in 2001.The school, our correspondent gathered, has about 105 students and has another college located in Ijeshatedo, Surulere.In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. For a first-time visitor to the area, it would be difficult to locate the school as it is obscured by a series of stalls and kiosks built close to the drainage, by the school fence.The first impression that comes to mind on getting to the place is that of a fast-expanding local market meant to serve the immediate needs of those living close by.However, a closer look would reveal something more sinister, a melting pot for gamblers and alcoholics.Based on findings made by our correspondent, due to easy access to alcoholic drinks packaged in sachets, students in schools around the area find pleasure in converging at the market to indulge and after getting high, would break into fights, disrupting the peace of the area.How, succour came the way of motorists, residents and business owners, who have over the years complained about the activities of the traders.Officials of the Lagos Waste Management Authority and the state’s Ministry of Environment stormed the area and demolished stalls and kiosks built by the traders on the drainage channel beside the school.Saturday PUNCHlearnt that this development followed a request made by a lawyer and development consultant, Mrs Iyabo Awokoya to the Lagos State Ministry of Education and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency via her verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday.Meanwhile, according to the official internet portal for all schools in the state known as ‘Lagos Schools Online’, the Silver Springs Schools, which is situated at Onitire, Abaranje, was started by its proprietress, Mrs Olaide Fawehinmi in 2001.The school, our correspondent gathered, has about 105 students and has another college located in Ijeshatedo, Surulere.In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. The first impression that comes to mind on getting to the place is that of a fast-expanding local market meant to serve the immediate needs of those living close by.However, a closer look would reveal something more sinister, a melting pot for gamblers and alcoholics.Based on findings made by our correspondent, due to easy access to alcoholic drinks packaged in sachets, students in schools around the area find pleasure in converging at the market to indulge and after getting high, would break into fights, disrupting the peace of the area.How, succour came the way of motorists, residents and business owners, who have over the years complained about the activities of the traders.Officials of the Lagos Waste Management Authority and the state’s Ministry of Environment stormed the area and demolished stalls and kiosks built by the traders on the drainage channel beside the school.Saturday PUNCHlearnt that this development followed a request made by a lawyer and development consultant, Mrs Iyabo Awokoya to the Lagos State Ministry of Education and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency via her verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday.Meanwhile, according to the official internet portal for all schools in the state known as ‘Lagos Schools Online’, the Silver Springs Schools, which is situated at Onitire, Abaranje, was started by its proprietress, Mrs Olaide Fawehinmi in 2001.The school, our correspondent gathered, has about 105 students and has another college located in Ijeshatedo, Surulere.In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. However, a closer look would reveal something more sinister, a melting pot for gamblers and alcoholics.Based on findings made by our correspondent, due to easy access to alcoholic drinks packaged in sachets, students in schools around the area find pleasure in converging at the market to indulge and after getting high, would break into fights, disrupting the peace of the area.How, succour came the way of motorists, residents and business owners, who have over the years complained about the activities of the traders.Officials of the Lagos Waste Management Authority and the state’s Ministry of Environment stormed the area and demolished stalls and kiosks built by the traders on the drainage channel beside the school.Saturday PUNCHlearnt that this development followed a request made by a lawyer and development consultant, Mrs Iyabo Awokoya to the Lagos State Ministry of Education and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency via her verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday.Meanwhile, according to the official internet portal for all schools in the state known as ‘Lagos Schools Online’, the Silver Springs Schools, which is situated at Onitire, Abaranje, was started by its proprietress, Mrs Olaide Fawehinmi in 2001.The school, our correspondent gathered, has about 105 students and has another college located in Ijeshatedo, Surulere.In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. Based on findings made by our correspondent, due to easy access to alcoholic drinks packaged in sachets, students in schools around the area find pleasure in converging at the market to indulge and after getting high, would break into fights, disrupting the peace of the area.How, succour came the way of motorists, residents and business owners, who have over the years complained about the activities of the traders.Officials of the Lagos Waste Management Authority and the state’s Ministry of Environment stormed the area and demolished stalls and kiosks built by the traders on the drainage channel beside the school.Saturday PUNCHlearnt that this development followed a request made by a lawyer and development consultant, Mrs Iyabo Awokoya to the Lagos State Ministry of Education and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency via her verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday.Meanwhile, according to the official internet portal for all schools in the state known as ‘Lagos Schools Online’, the Silver Springs Schools, which is situated at Onitire, Abaranje, was started by its proprietress, Mrs Olaide Fawehinmi in 2001.The school, our correspondent gathered, has about 105 students and has another college located in Ijeshatedo, Surulere.In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. How, succour came the way of motorists, residents and business owners, who have over the years complained about the activities of the traders.Officials of the Lagos Waste Management Authority and the state’s Ministry of Environment stormed the area and demolished stalls and kiosks built by the traders on the drainage channel beside the school.Saturday PUNCHlearnt that this development followed a request made by a lawyer and development consultant, Mrs Iyabo Awokoya to the Lagos State Ministry of Education and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency via her verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday.Meanwhile, according to the official internet portal for all schools in the state known as ‘Lagos Schools Online’, the Silver Springs Schools, which is situated at Onitire, Abaranje, was started by its proprietress, Mrs Olaide Fawehinmi in 2001.The school, our correspondent gathered, has about 105 students and has another college located in Ijeshatedo, Surulere.In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. Officials of the Lagos Waste Management Authority and the state’s Ministry of Environment stormed the area and demolished stalls and kiosks built by the traders on the drainage channel beside the school.Saturday PUNCHlearnt that this development followed a request made by a lawyer and development consultant, Mrs Iyabo Awokoya to the Lagos State Ministry of Education and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency via her verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday.Meanwhile, according to the official internet portal for all schools in the state known as ‘Lagos Schools Online’, the Silver Springs Schools, which is situated at Onitire, Abaranje, was started by its proprietress, Mrs Olaide Fawehinmi in 2001.The school, our correspondent gathered, has about 105 students and has another college located in Ijeshatedo, Surulere.In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. Saturday PUNCHlearnt that this development followed a request made by a lawyer and development consultant, Mrs Iyabo Awokoya to the Lagos State Ministry of Education and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency via her verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday.Meanwhile, according to the official internet portal for all schools in the state known as ‘Lagos Schools Online’, the Silver Springs Schools, which is situated at Onitire, Abaranje, was started by its proprietress, Mrs Olaide Fawehinmi in 2001.The school, our correspondent gathered, has about 105 students and has another college located in Ijeshatedo, Surulere.In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. Meanwhile, according to the official internet portal for all schools in the state known as ‘Lagos Schools Online’, the Silver Springs Schools, which is situated at Onitire, Abaranje, was started by its proprietress, Mrs Olaide Fawehinmi in 2001.The school, our correspondent gathered, has about 105 students and has another college located in Ijeshatedo, Surulere.In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. The school, our correspondent gathered, has about 105 students and has another college located in Ijeshatedo, Surulere.In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. In a photograph of the school, which Awokoya appended to her post, an array of wooden kiosks and umbrellas owned by traders could be seen adjoining the fence erected by the school.The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. The traders who ranged from Point-of-Sale operators to those who hawked snacks and pastries had their merchandise placed over the drainage channel, beside the school building.Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. Findings bySaturday PUNCHrevealed that in the past few years, through various press releases, the Lagos State Government had expressed worries over the increasing abuse of setbacks and incidental open spaces around public schools and has sought to check such infractions.In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. In a series of replies to comments elicited by her post on Silver Spring Schools, Awokoya lamented that the shops had repelled parents from registering their children in the school, noting that its premises had been turned into a marketplace.She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. She further disclosed that the efforts of the school proprietress, who is her aunt, to eject the illegal traders had failed and she had even become afraid due to the recalcitrance of the stall owners.The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. The post read, “Dear Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, LASEPA official, Tunde, Please this is my aunty’s school on Abaranje Road, Ikotun, in Lagos.“See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. “See the way the traders have taken over the setback and have erected permanent kiosks even attaching them to the fence. We have reported in all the possible places to be reported to no avail. Later the Ministry of Education will come with a contravention order. How can a school be rendered to a market?“And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. “And they are vicious. My Aunt is 70 years old and afraid of them now. They first promised to leave when the LGA came with my agent, but then they failed. Then the LGA also relented. There is nothing we have not done. We petitioned the LGA and LCDA, Tunde Sosina,” she wrote in two separate posts.Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. Govt evacuates illegal stallsBarely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were earlier today evacuated by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority enforcement team and the Lagos State Ministry of Environment monitoring officers.“The monitoring officers were directed to request the principal of the school to take over the setback and then beautify it in accordance with the ‘ Greener Lagos’ policy of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.”Responding to this, Awokoya posted on Thursday, “Wow! I truly can’t believe this. I cried out here yesterday about illegal kiosks that are erected in front of my aunty’s school in Ikotun and right now they are being evacuated.“Dear Tokunbo Wahab, this is an uncommon favour sir. My aunt just called me to let me know. I am grateful to LASEPA and its General Manager, Tunde Ajayi. Lagos is working. Please Oliver Twist needs a little more help. Theokadasthat are always parking in front of the school entrance should find another bus stop.“My aunty was getting so frustrated that she was thinking of selling the school and just keeping her flagship school in Surulere. The (school) expansion led her into a problem. Now, the Ministry of Environment has asked that we beautify immediately and my aunt is a flower lover so I am sure she will get cracking immediately.”Related NewsGovernorship Election Live UpdatesDangote equips Lagos schools with solar power, othersAlcohol intake before surgery heightens bleeding, pneumonia risks – Surgeons6 ways to stop addictive gamblingResidents lament setbacks takeoverWhen our correspondent visited the school on Friday morning, he observed that the stalls had indeed been cleared and there were no more encroachments on the school fence.A resident who gave his name only as Tunji commended the move which he said should not have happened if there had been strict enforcement.“The stalls were removed yesterday and their owners have been forced to move elsewhere. They constituted much distraction to the students and the school surrounding was beginning to look ugly. Most of the people who patronised them were outsiders and if care hadn’t been taken, the whole place would have become a hideout for hoodlums. This should never have been in the first place if there had been strict enforcements,” he stated.Invaded by alcohol-selling traders, gambling boothsAnother resident of the area, Tobi Fagbemi, lamented that the setbacks of other secondary schools in Ikotun have been taken over by those hawking alcoholic beverages and gamblers.“These traders have taken over all the setbacks in most of the secondary schools. Especially the Ikotun High School. It started gradually and now if you go around these schools, you will see people hawking herbal concoctions and alcohol in sachets. They also have gambling (Baba Ijebu) and sports betting kiosks.“During school hours, you will see these students who are supposed to be in their classes learning subjects, sneaking out to hang around these joints. Even after closing hours, they still go there to spend their pocket money, and you’ll see them sipping alcohol in sachets. The government has to ban these shops around schools,” he told our correspondent.School traders breeding thugs– TeacherA teacher in a private school in Oshodi, Mrs Bukola Adelani, in a chat with our correspondent, expressed worries over the negative effects the presence of alcohol and cigarette vendors can have on students.She said, “This problem is gradually getting out of hand because these traders around schools sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and even aphrodisiacs to students. Students go there to take these things and they start misbehaving, sleeping with their colleagues, and becoming violent.“There was a case where a student went to take one of these drinks and he started sleeping in class. This is how substance abuse starts. Who knows what else they are selling to these children that we have not yet discovered? If you go through these markets springing up around schools, you will find that they sell adult materials to underage students.“These vendors know what they are doing. They see students in school uniforms, especially the females among them coming to purchase these things and they don’t object. They will even argue that their gin is a remedy for stomach upset.“The government needs to do something if we are to get rid of the menace of thuggery and drug addiction that is now spreading across schools in the state.”Commenting on the development, an Ikorodu resident, Saheed Lawal, in his reply to Awokoya’s post on X, tweeted, “Go to United Secondary School and Ayangburen Secondary School in Ikorodu. These schools are adjacent to Ikorodu Road at the garage section, but they have all been taken over by people frying akara, clothes, food, ogogoro (local gin distilled from palm wine) sellers. It is absurd passing there every morning.”Another, a project engineer on X, Fayemi Olatunbosun, who stated that he was a part of the team that worked on the ongoing road construction in Abaranje, Ikotun, disclosed that the setbacks were allocated by some community members.“I joined a team of engineers who worked on the aforementioned road. You won’t believe that some people from the community allocated that small portion of the setback to different kiosks at a cost of not less than N30,000. They were doing this even when our work there was ongoing,” he wrote.Government urges collaborationIn a lengthy post on Friday, Wahab, stated that his office had been inundated with numerous complaints from concerned citizens about noise pollution, flooding, and obstruction of walkways by traders.“As a ministry, we continue to act swiftly upon receiving these vital complaints, and we are fully committed to responding promptly and decisively to restore law and order across the state. As the custodians of the state’s environmental well-being, we acknowledge the significance of addressing these concerns with utmost urgency.“Flooding, noise pollution, and the unlawful blockage of walkways represent critical challenges that impact the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Therefore, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is diligently organising and implementing a comprehensive action plan to tackle these issues head-on.“This proactive response will involve collaborative efforts among various departments within the Ministry, in conjunction with relevant authorities, to ensure the effective resolution of these environmental challenges. The ministry urges all residents and stakeholders to join hands in this collective endeavour to maintain a clean, safe, and sustainable environment for everyone in Lagos State.”Govt must implement EIA– Environmental researcherAn environmental researcher, Seun Awoyinfa, toldSaturday PUNCHthat the state government needs to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment to tackle the abuse of school setbacks.“For every project, whether it involves erecting a kiosk or structure, especially around a school, an EIA must be carried out. There is no environmental sustainability without an environmental analysis.“For instance, a school should not be close to the marketplace because the noise pollution will affect the level of concentration of the students. They should not be built close to a casino or betting spot otherwise, the intellect of those students is in contention due to that level of distraction.“The same applies to allowing pubs or stores selling stimulants or drugs. They should not be sited close to a school because they could have negative impacts on students. The government should ensure that EIAs are carried out at each LGA and LCDA to curb this,” he advised. Barely 18 hours after Awokoya’s post, state officials came to the school premises and removed the stalls and kiosks around the drainage setback.The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post made via his X handle, on Thursday, said he gave the directive and urged the school principal to take over the school setback.He wrote, “As I instructed, illegal kiosks built on drainage setbacks beside Silver Spring Schools, Abaranje Road, Ikotun were ea | NaN | NaN |
| 444911 | 746793 | NaN | International Business Times | Tanya WILLMER | Death Toll From Kenya Floods Almost Doubles To 120 | The death toll from floods that have devastated many parts of Kenya has almost doubled to 120, a government official said on Tuesday. | https://www.ibtimes.com/death-toll-kenya-floods-almost-doubles-120-3719618 | https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/4501318/homes-farmland-roads-have-been-submerged-floods-many-parts-kenya.jpg | 2023-11-28 19:45:29.000000 | The death toll from floods that have devastated many parts of Kenya has almost doubled to 120, a government official said on Tuesday.\r\nMore than 89,000 households have also been displaced and are bei… [+2739 chars] | Somalia | NaN | NaN | NaN |
| 657982 | 155641 | the-jerusalem-post | The Jerusalem Post | By Walla! | IDF plans to establish co-working spaces like WeWork for reservist use | "No one here counts the days," says a senior reserve officer, who also holds a senior position in a food company. "We are here as long as they need us" | https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-771746 | https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_407,w_690/561945 | 2023-11-05 00:58:30.000000 | The Southern Command's operation in Gaza to take out Hamas terrorist infrastructure has required the dedication of IDF soldiers and reservists. In an effort to not put their lives on pause, the IDF h… [+2585 chars] | Finance | NaN | NaN | NaN |
| 235019 | 665675 | NaN | Deadline | Melanie Goodfellow | Rotterdam Opening Film; Paul Schrader Avellino Honor; New UNESCO Paris Film Fest & Clermont Ferrand Confirms Reduced 2024 Edition – Festival Briefs | Rotterdam Film Festival Sets ‘Head South’ As Opening Film Jonathan Ogilvie’s post-punk, coming-of-age comedy Head South has been announced as the opening picture of the 53rd International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), running from January 25 to February 4. … | https://deadline.com/2023/11/rotterdam-opening-film-paul-schrader-avellino-unesco-paris-film-festival-clermont-ferrand-1235635640/ | https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/MixCollage-23-Nov-2023-12-08-PM-7482.jpg?w=1024 | 2023-11-23 12:19:28.000000 | Rotterdam Film Festival Sets ‘Head South’ As Opening Film\r\nJonathan Ogilvie’s post-punk, coming-of-age comedy Head South has been announced as the opening picture of the 53rd International Film Festi… [+3855 chars] | world | NaN | NaN | NaN |
| 973773 | 471217 | NaN | Inside the Magic | Thomas Hitchen | Big Blockbuster Bombshell Dropped Regarding Johnny Depp’s Replacement | Major news has dropped this weekend regarding the future of a major franchise starring Johnny Depp’s replacement. Actor Johnny Depp was once the crown jewel of Hollywood. With success beginning in the 1980s and ramping up throughout the 1990s, Johnny Depp too… | https://insidethemagic.net/2023/11/timothee-chalamet-johnny-depp-dune-part-two-th1/ | https://insidethemagic.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/timothee-chalamet-jack-sparrow.jpg | 2023-11-19 19:48:23.000000 | Major news has dropped this weekend regarding the future of a major franchise starring Johnny Depp’s replacement.\r\nCredit: Disney\r\nActor Johnny Depp was once the crown jewel of Hollywood. With succes… [+5368 chars] | Movies | NaN | NaN | NaN |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 583023 | 80734 | NaN | Independent.ie | Aidan Fitzmaurice | ‘Keith Andrews is lying over spying claims’ – Greece boss Gus Poyet blasts back at Ireland camp | Greece manager Gus Poyet has turned up the heat ahead of Friday’s Euro 2024 qualifier in Dublin as he accused the Irish camp of making “cheap” and untrue accusations about him using Irish spies to get information on Stephen Kenny’s outfit ahead of their clash… | https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/keith-andrews-is-lying-over-spying-claims-greece-boss-gus-poyet-blasts-back-at-ireland-camp/a1244982739.html | https://focus.independent.ie/thumbor/IxviTECk3H6CpZPV3d-jYvoUAvI=/223x69:3145x2015/2922x1946/prod-mh-ireland/cff8d492-9583-41f5-a511-7775c752bc7e/88c2f8fd-48a4-4127-9ebb-9235ef28dcf2/cff8d492-9583-41f5-a511-7775c752bc7e.jpg | 2023-10-12 19:10:32.000000 | Greece manager Gus Poyet has turned up the heat ahead of Fridays Euro 2024 qualifier in Dublin as he accused the Irish camp of making cheap and untrue accusations about him using Irish spies to get i… [+4286 chars] | Latvia | NaN | NaN | NaN |
| 301638 | 727805 | NaN | Punknews.org | emmoore@nospam.punknews.org (emmoore) | Cigar release video for “These Chances” | Cigar have released a video for their song “These Chances”. The song is off their album | NaN | NaN | NaN | NaN | NaN | NaN | NaN | NaN |
| 931945 | 429433 | NaN | Hipertextual | Juan Carlos Figueroa | ¿De quién es la Luna? La disputa de las potencias sobre el territorio de nuestro satélite | Bill Nelson, el actual líder de la NASA, dijo este año en una entrevista: «Queremos impedir que China llegue y diga que el agua es suya». Se refería, específicamente, al polo sur de la Luna, un territorio de nuestro satélite que de pronto se ha vuelto muy cod… | http://hipertextual.com/2023/11/de-quien-es-la-luna-la-disputa | https://i0.wp.com/imgs.hipertextual.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/nasa-Ed2AELHKYBw-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&quality=50&strip=all&ssl=1 | 2023-11-17 00:13:00.000000 | Bill Nelson, el actual líder de la NASA, dijo este año en una entrevista: «Queremos impedir que China llegue y diga que el agua es suya». Se refería, específicamente, al polo sur de la Luna, un terri… [+9141 chars] | Science | NaN | NaN | NaN |
| 192212 | 622870 | NaN | Marketscreener.com | NaN | OpenAI's new-look board as Altman returns | (marketscreener.com) ChatGPT-maker OpenAI on Tuesday said\nit reached an agreement for Sam Altman to return as CEO days\nafter his ouster, and also agreed in principle to partly\nreconstitute the board of directors that had dismissed him.\n Bret Taylor, formerly … | https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/BLOCK-INC-24935553/news/OpenAI-s-new-look-board-as-Altman-returns-45415447/ | https://www.marketscreener.com/images/twitter_MS_fdblanc.png | 2023-11-22 08:39:23.000000 | Nov 22 (Reuters) - ChatGPT-maker OpenAI on Tuesday said\r\nit reached an agreement for Sam Altman to return as CEO days\r\nafter his ouster, and also agreed in principle to partly\r\nreconstitute the board… [+1124 chars] | Science | NaN | NaN | NaN |
| 1054469 | 551936 | NaN | Impress.co.jp | NaN | 本日みつけたお買い得品GeForce搭載の16型ノートが2万5千円引き | Amazonにおいて、ASUSの16型ノートPC「Vivobook 16X K3605ZC」が直近価格からの2万5,000円引きで、13万4,800円にて購入できる。 | https://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/todays_sales/1548182.html | https://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/img/pcw/list/1548/182/01.jpg | 2023-11-20 00:38:15.000000 | AmazonASUS16PCVivobook 16X K3605ZC25,000134,800 \r\n Vivobook 16X K3605ZCGeForce RTX 3050 Laptop GPUPC120Hz16(1,920×1,200)Core i7-12650H16GB512GB SSDWindows 11 HomeMIL(MIL-STD-810H) \r\n USB 3.0 Type-C()… [+155 chars] | Amazon | NaN | NaN | NaN |
| 975165 | 472603 | next-big-future | Next Big Future | Brian Wang | Tesla Will Distribute FSD Beta in China | Tesla has FSD (full self driving) mainly in North America. About 10-20% of Tesla buyers in the US and Canada buy FSD. If Tesla can successfully grow FSD in China and Europe to match the levels of adoption in the USA then this would triple FSD sales. Tesla has… | https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2023/11/tesla-will-distribute-fsd-beta-in-china.html | https://nextbigfuture.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-18-at-5.18.51-PM.jpg | 2023-11-19 01:19:35.000000 | Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology… [+593 chars] | Technology | NaN | NaN | NaN |
| 109941 | 1718 | NaN | Deadline | Matt Grobar | maria bakalova boards egor abramenko pic ‘god’s country’; matt reeves’ 6th & idaho, zq producing | EXCLUSIVE: Oscar nom Maria Bakalova has signed on to star in the genre pic God’s Country, marking the American directorial debut of Egor Abramenko (Sputnik), which will go into production in Romania under a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement in March. The actress st… | https://deadline.com/2023/10/maria-bakalova-gods-country-egor-abramenko-matt-reeves-1235588740/ | https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Maria-Bakalova-credit-Joseph-Sinclair-e1698777386435.jpeg?w=1024 | 2023-10-31 18:45:20.000000 | EXCLUSIVE: Oscar nom Maria Bakalova has signed on to star in the genre pic God’s Country, marking the American directorial debut of Egor Abramenko (Sputnik), which will go into production in Romania … [+1779 chars] | Romania | NaN | exclusive: oscar nommaria bakalovahas signed on to star in the genre picgod’s country, marking the american directorial debut of egor abramenko (sputnik), which will go into production in romania under a sag-aftra interim agreement in march. the actress steps in for melissa barrera, who exited due to scheduling conflicts, according to a source close to the project. she plays the role of a young woman who travels to kentucky to meet her fiancé, subsequently uncovering something sinister beyond comprehension, as her american dream curdles into a nightmare of biblical proportions. will soodik (westworld) wrote the script. also now aboard the project from matt reeves’ 6th & idaho andzq entertainmentaremaraboyina capitalandcastel films, who have joined as financiers. maraboyina’s suraj maraboyina and castel’s cristi bostanescu will produce alongside the previously announced reeves (the batman) and rafi crohn (tales from the loop) for 6th & idaho, zq entertainment’s ara keshishian and petr jákl (who financed the development), and adam kassan (end of watch). wme independent is repping foreign rights and co-reps domestic with caa media finance. bakalova broke out with her oscar-nominated turn opposite sacha baron cohen in prime video’sborat subsequent moviefilmand more recently starred in a24’s horror hitbodies bodies bodies, additionally voicing cosmo the spacedog inguardians of the galaxy vol. 3. she’ll soon be seen opposite emilia jones and scoot mcnairy in the sofia coppola-produced dramafairyland, which world premiered at this year’s sundance film festival. other projects in the can for the actress are the sci-fi dramedyo horizonand jerry seinfeld-directed netflix picunfrosted. in development at paramount is a paul-feig helmed spy comedy in which she’s set to star opposite sebastian stan. bakalova is represented by caa, brookside artist management, insight management & production in the uk, and yorn, levine, barnes. | Neutral |
| 761234 | 258781 | bbc-news | BBC News | NaN | Sri Lanka suspended over government interference | Sri Lanka are suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) because of government interference. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/67384199 | https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/live-experience/cps/624/cpsprodpb/11787/production/_124395517_bbcbreakingnewsgraphic.jpg | 2023-11-10 15:55:55.000000 | Sri Lanka have been suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) because of government interference.\r\nSri Lanka's ministry of sport sacked the national board (SLC) amid the team's poor World … [+635 chars] | world | NaN | NaN | NaN |
| 179056 | 609739 | NaN | Food Safety News | Joe Whitworth | Nearly 150 sick in Salmonella outbreak affecting 11 countries | Eleven countries, including the United States, have recorded almost 150 Salmonella infections that could be linked to tomatoes. Since January 2023, 149 cases of Salmonella Strathcona have been reported. Germany has the most patients, with 47, while Italy has … | https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2023/11/nearly-150-sick-in-salmonella-outbreak-affecting-11-countries/ | https://images.bannerbear.com/direct/y0aJ23zRDdqMxX4OGl/requests/000/045/439/884/5R7NlW8nEzjod5wJ6mvbxgLyP/6361d71938f306a72378eb3382fb7c9513973fcb.png | 2023-11-21 05:05:00.000000 | Eleven countries, including the United States, have recorded almost 150 Salmonella infections that could be linked to tomatoes.\r\nSince January 2023, 149 cases of Salmonella Strathcona have been repor… [+2199 chars] | Italy | NaN | NaN | NaN |
| 1035545 | 533022 | NaN | BFMTV | NaN | France-Gibraltar: avec leur 14-0, les Bleus ont fait tomber un record en Europe | En remportant la plus large victoire de son histoire samedi contre Gibraltar, la France est devenue la première équipe européenne de l'histoire à marquer 14 buts dans un match de qualification à une grande compétition. | https://rmcsport.bfmtv.com/football/equipe-de-france/france-gibraltar-avec-leur-14-0-les-bleus-ont-fait-tomber-un-record-en-europe_AV-202311190183.html | https://images.bfmtv.com/3mTXxvOTWthTxCpHgzH4Dq0v0xk=/0x27:2048x1179/images/France-Gibraltar-1751023.jpg | 2023-11-19 08:29:45.000000 | En remportant la plus large victoire de son histoire samedi contre Gibraltar, la France est devenue la première équipe européenne de l'histoire à marquer 14 buts dans un match de qualification à une … [+2023 chars] | Gibraltar | NaN | NaN | NaN |
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| 2663 | NaN | Punknews.org | emmoore@nospam.punknews.org (emmoore) | Cigar release video for “These Chances” | Cigar have released a video for their song “These Chances”. The song is off their album | NaN | NaN | NaN | NaN | NaN | NaN | NaN | NaN | 12630 |
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